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THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

MACMILLAN AND CO., Limited

I-ONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA • MADRAS
MELBOURNE

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO
DALLAS • SAN FRANCISCO

THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd

TORONTO

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2 >

z:.-^ ^.

THE HANDBOOK OF

PALESTINE

ROVAL ASIAT'C
SOCIETY

EDITED BY

HARRY CHARLES LUKE, B.Litt., M.A.

ASSISTANT GOVERNOR OF JERUSALEM

AND

EDWARD' KEITH-ROACH

ASSISTANT CHIEF SECRETARY TO THE GOVERNMENT OF PALESTINE

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY

The Right Hon. SIR HERBERT SAMUEL, P.C., G.B.E.

HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR PALESTINE

Issued under the Authority of
the Gover?t?nent of Palestine

MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED

ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON

1922

107
■3

PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN

PREFACE

The Handbook of Palestine has been written and printed
during a period of transition in the administration of the
country. While the book was in the press the Council of
the League of Nations formally approved the conferment
on Great Britain of the Mandate for Palestine ; and,
consequent upon this act, a new constitution is to come
into force, the nominated Advisory Council will be succeeded
by a partly elected Legislative Council, and other changes
in the direction of greater self-government, which had
awaited the ratification of the Mandate, are becoming
operative. Again, on the ist July, 1922, the adminis-
trative divisions of the country were reorganized. The
editors of the Handbook have endeavoured, to the best of
their ability, to keep pace with these changes and to make
the work as up-to-date as possible ; but, in view of the
difficulties with which they have been faced in this con-
nexion, they ask the indulgence of their readers if, at times,
events have moved faster than the printer.

They desire gratefully to acknowledge the assistance that
has been so readily placed at their disposal. In the first
place they wish to thank the High Commissioner for the
encouragement he has given them in their task, and for
being good enough to contribute the introduction to the
volume. They are also indebted in general to Governors
and Heads of Departments, and in particular to Sir Wynd-
ham Deedes, Mr. Ronald Storrs, Mr. N. Bentwich, Mr.
J. B. Barron, Mr. J. N. Stubbs, Mr. G. Blake and other
officials too numerous to mention here, who have kindly

PREFACE

supplied them with information regarding their particular
spheres. Several members of the Administration have
helped, too, in matters outside their departmental work,
and a debt of gratitude is due in particular to Colonel
E. R. Sawer, Director of Agriculture, to Dr. W. K. Biggar,
Messrs. I. Aharoni, E. Rabinovitch, and P. A. Buxton for
the sections on Natural History ; to Mr. E. T. Richmond
for a valuable review of the Moslem architecture of
Palestine, a task not previously attempted elsewhere ; to
Professor Garstang and Mr. W. J. Phythian- Adams for
several notes. To Colonel R. B. W. Holmes, General
Manager, Palestine Railways, they owe permission to use
the map which is attached to the volume.

They are greatly indebted to Pere H. Vincent, O.P., of the
Ecole de S. Etienne, for the review of the Christian archi-
tecture of Palestine, and to Bishop Maclnnes and Canon
H. Danby for the paragraphs respectively on the Anglican
diocese and on Judaism in Palestine after 70 a.d. Dr. C. R.
B. Eyre; Sub-Warden of the Hospital of the Order of S.John
of Jerusalem, has kindly contributed the section on the
postage stamps of Palestine, Lt. -Colonel H. Pirie-Gordon's
Palestine Pocket Guide-books have been consulted with
advantage ; and material help in connexion with the
preparation of the volume for press has been received from
Mr. A. G. Antippa of the Palestine Civil Service.

irp. ml

H. C. L.
E. K.-R.

Jerusalem,

September, 1922.

CONTENTS

PACE

Introduction .._----- xi

PART I

GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY

§ I. Introductory ------- i

§ 2. Geography and Scenery ----- 2

§ 3. Palestine in Biblical Times _ - _ - 3
§ 4. Palestine under Rome, Byzantium and the

Arabs - - - - - - - - 12

§ 5. The Crusades - - - - ^ - - - 15

§ 6. Palestine under the Mamelukes and Turks - 21

§ 7. Palestine under the British Mandate - - 24

PART n

PEOPLES AND RELIGIONS

§ I. Race and Language ------ 32

§ 2. Population - - - 32

§ 3. Arabs and Syrians ------ 34

§ 4. Circassians, Bosnians and Magharbeh - - 35

§ 5. Islam in Palestine ------ 36

§ 6. The Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem - 39

§ 7. The Latin Church in Palestine - - - 41

vii

viii CONTENTS

PAGE

§ 8. The Uniate Churches ------ 43

§ 9, The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem - 44

§ 10. Jacobites, Copts and Abyssinians - - - 44

§11. The Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem - - 45

§ 12. The 'American Colony ' - - - - - 48

§ 13. The German Templar Community - - - 48

§ 14. The Jews - - -.- - - - - 49

§ 15. The Jewish Colonies ------ 55

§ 16. The Samaritans ------- ^6

§ 17. Druses and Metawileh ----- 57

§ 18. The Baha'is - - - - - - - - 58

PART III

PLACES OF INTEREST

§ I. Archaeology and Art in Palestine - - - 60

§ 2. Department of Antiquities - - - - 74

§ 3. The Palestine Museum 75

§ 4. Coins - ~ ' 77

§ 5. The Southern Province ----- 80

§ 6. Jerusalem and Jaffa Province - - - - 86

§ 7. Samaria Province -_-_.. jqi

§ 8. The Northern Province 104

PART IV

COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION FOR
TOURISTS

§ I. Palestine as a Tourist Resort- - - - no

§ 2. Routes to Palestine - -- - - -113

§ 3. Inland Communications - ' - - - - 115

§ 4. Accommodation - - - - - - - 122

§ 5. Books of Reference ------ 123

§ 6. Mineral Springs of Palestine - - - - 125

CONTENTS ix

PAGE

§ 7. Weights and Measures ----- 126

§ 8. Table of Sunrise and Sunset in Palestine - 129
§ 9. Festivals - - - - - - - -130

§ 10. The Pro-Jerusalem Society . - _ - 131

PART V

GOVERNMENT AND GOVERNMENT ACTIVITIES

§ I. System of Administration - - - - - 133

§ 2. Administration of Justice - - - - - 137

§ 3. Finance, Currency and Banking - - - 144
§ 4. Customs - - - - - - - -160

§ 5. Commerce and Industry ----- 169

§ 6. Immigration - - - - - - - -171

§ 7. Education - - - - - - - -173

§ 8. Land Tenure ------- 181

§ 9. Agriculture and Forestry . _ - - 186

§ 10. Public Works and Harbours - - - - 195

§11. Palestine Railways ------ igS

§ 12. Public Security - - - " - - - - 202

§ 13. Medical and Meteorological - - . . 204
§ 14. Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones - - - 210
§ 15. Municipalities - - - - - - . 224

§16. Parliamentary Papers - - - _ _ 226 .
§ 17. Trans-jordania 227

PART VI

GEOLOGY, MINING AND NATURAL HISTORY

I. Geology

229

§ 2. Mineral Resources ------ 238

§ 3. Mammalia -------- 242

§ 4. Birds --------- 243

§ 5. Reptilia - - - 256

X CONTENTS

PAGE

§ 6. Fishes - - - - - - - - - 260

§ 7. Insects --------- 261

§ 8. Animal, Insect and Vegetable Pests - - 264

§ 9, Game Preservation - . - - - - - 265

§ 10. Flora --------- 266

PART VII

MISCELLANEOUS

§ I, Moslem, Orthodox and Jewish Kalendars - 267

§ 2. Official Holidays ------ 272

§ 3. Transliteration - - - - - - - 273

§ 4. Newspapers and Periodicals . . - - 276

§ 5. War Cemeteries in Palestine - - - . - 276

§ 6. Foreign Consuls in Palestine - - - - 277

§ 7. Boy Scouts and Girl Guides - - - - 278

§ 8. R.S.P.C.A. -------- 279

APPENDIX

Mandate for Palestine - - - . - - - 280

Index ---- 291

Railway Map of Palestine and Trans-jordania

In pocket at end of volume"

INTRODUCTION

If I were called upon to express in a single word the dis-
tinguishing characteristic of Palestine I should say Diversity
— diversity of religions, diversity of civilizations, diversity
of climate, diversity of physical characteristics. If the
traveller wishes for coolness in the summer, he may live
3,000 feet above the level of the sea ; if he wishes for
warmth in the winter, he may live 1,000 feet below. He
may find among the Beduin of Beersheba precisely the
conditions that prevailed in the time of Abraham ; at
Bethlehem he may see the women's costumes, and, in some
respects, the mode of living of the period of the Crusaders ;
the Arab villages are, for the most part, still under mediaeval
conditions ; the towns present many of the problems of the
early nineteenth century ; \>i:hile the new arrivals from
Eastern and Central Europe, and from America,, bring with
them the activities of the twentieth century, and sometimes,
perhaps, the ideas of the twenty-first. Indeed, it is true
to say that in Palestine you can choose the climate, or the
century, that you prefer. And these conditions are found
in a country so small that it is easy to motor in a single day
from the northernmost town to the southernmost, and in a
morning from the eastern boundary to the sea.

These diversities would be enough to lend to Palestine
an unusual interest ; but her position as the birthplace of
religions renders that interest unique. Still farther is it
enhanced by the conditions of the present time.

Palestine has witnessed many and great changes in the
four thousand years of her recorded history. But it is

INTRODUCTION

necessary to go back to the time of the Crusades for Si
change as fundamental as that which is involved in the!
ending of the Turkish Administration and the substitution
of a British Mandate. An era of new development opens
widely before her. A multitude of new problems arise.
To the importance of the country as a centre of religious
associations, new political and economic considerations are
added.

In these circumstances a Handbook of Palestine — accurate
and readable as this Handbook is — will be of service ; both
to those whose interest is dista.nt, and to those who, more
fortunate, are able to visit the country, to experience the
charm of its scenery and climate, to come into contact with
its history, to study at first hand the many complexities of
its present-day problems, and, above all, to hear the voice^
of its spiritual appeal.

HERBERT SAMUEL.

PART I.

GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY.

§ I. Introductory p

Palestine is bounded on the north by the French sphere
of Syria, on the west by the Mediterranean, on the south by
Egyptian and Hejaz territory, the boundary running from
a point west of Rafa on the Mediterranean to east of Taba
at the head of the Gulf of Akaba, and then north-east. On
the east is the territory of Trans-jordania, which is included
in the area of the Palestine Mandate.

The boundary on the north was determined by the
Franco-British Convention of the 23rd December, 1920,
and was delimited in 1922. It runs from the Mediterranean
at Ras al-Nakura eastwards to Yarun, thence N.E. to the
village of Kades, thence N.N.E. to Metullah and across the
upper Jordan Valley to Banias, thence S.S.W. to Jisr Benat
Yaqub, thence southwards along the Jordan to Lake
Tiberias, thence along the eastern shore of the Lake of
Tiberias to a point almost due east of the town of Tiberias,
thence S.S.E. to al-Hamneh Station on the Semakh-Deraa
railway. The Huleh basin and all the Lake of Tiberias are
thus within the borders of Palestine.

The area of Palestine according to the Turkish admini-
strative divisions was 13,724 square miles. The area of
Palestine under British administration, excluding Trans-
jordania, is something over 9,000 square miles, with an

2 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

estimated population (1922) of about 754,500. Of these
about 583,000 are Moslems, 84,500 Christians, and 79,300
Jews. These figures do not include the garrison.

§ 2. Geography and Scenery.

General. — ' Within the limits of a province,' it is stated in
the High Commissioner's interim report on Palestine for
1920-21, Palestine ' offers the varieties of soil and climate
of a continent. It is a country of mountain and plain, of
desert and pleasant valleys, of lake and sea-board, of barren
hills, desolate to the last degree of desolation, and of broad
stretches of deep, fruitful soil.' The most important
geographical fact in Palestine is the deep fissure of the
Jordan Valley, which divides Palestine proper so distinctly
from Trans-jordania. Palestine is, generally speaking, a
mountainous plateau which forms an extension of the
Lebanon chain and runs southwards till it loses itself in
the desert or is linked up with the mountainous part of the
Sinai Peninsula. More than two-thirds of the country lie
on the western side of the watershed, and on the western
side the slopes are gradual ; on the east they are precipitous
and are broken by valleys of great depth.

The country may be divided into three sub-regions, the
coastal plain, the mountainous plateau, and the desert.

The Coastal Plain. — The coastal plain varies considerably
in width between Acre, its northern, and Gaza, its southern
extremity. At Acre its width is about 4 miles ; farther
south, at Haifa, it widens out into the Plain of Esdraelon,
which intersects the whole country ; south of Haifa, as it
rounds the buttress of Mount Carmel, it is reduced to a bare
200 yards. Southwards from Athlit it expands to a width
of about 20 miles, its breadth at Ascalon. The coastal plain,
the northern portion of which is known as the Plain of
Sharon, is on the whole extremely fertile, although covered
in parts with a shallow layer of sand ; of proverbial fertility,
too, is the Plain of Esdraelon, also known in Hebrew times
as Armageddon.

GEOGRAPHY AND SCENERY 3

The Plateau Region. — The plateau region is divided by
the Plain of Esdraelon into two sections, the hill country
of Galilee to the north and the hill country of Samaria and
Judaea to the south.

At the southern end of the hills of Galilee rises Mount
Tabor (1,845 ft.). The range becomes continuous and
increases in height in the neighbourhood of Safed. The
highest points of the range are Jermuk (3,934 ft.) and
Jebel Heider (3,440 ft.).

The principal highlands of Samaria lie near the water-
shed between the Mediterranean and the Jordan. The
highest points are Mount. Ebal (3,077 ft.) and Mount Gerizim
(2,849 it.) near Nablus, and Tel Asur (3,318ft.) further south.
On the eastern side of the watershed the most important
feature is the system of deep parallel valleys running from
the plain south of Nablus into the Jordan Valley.

The plateau of Judaea takes the form of a long zig-zag
central spine which throws out a series of steep spurs to
east and west. South of Hebron the range becomes lower
and finally loses itself in the desert. On the western side
of the watershed the plateau of Judaea extends about half-
way to the sea, broken by deep valleys. On the east side
it descends abruptly within 20 miles from a maximum of
over 3,000 feet above sea-level to 1,300 feet below sea-level
to the Lower Jordan and the Dead Sea. The slopes are
mere rocky wastes, almost without vegetation and water,
inhabited only by a few Beduin and hermits. They
descend in a series of terraces sometimes terminating in
walls of cliff, such as the Mount of Temptation above Jericho,
and are deeply seamed by profound caiions such as Mar
Saba and the Wadi Qelt.

The Desert. — The desert country is, roughly speaking, a
rectangle, of which the corners are Gaza, Beersheba, Rafa
and al-Auja. East and south-east of this rectangle is a
broken mountainous region falling to the east in a series of
terraced escarpments to the Wadi Araba and the depression
at the southern extremity of the Dead Sea. Farther south
and east are the deserts of Sinai and Northern Arabia.

4 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

Lakes. — Palestine possesses a geographical feature unique
in the world in the Jordan Valley, or Ghor, and the chain of
lakes through which the Jordan flows. Rising near Banias
at a height of about 3,000 feet above sea-level, the Jordan
enters Lake Huleh (the Waters of Merom) , whose surface is
7 feet above sea-level. The depth of Lake Huleh varies
from 10 to 16 feet ; its width is 4 miles from north to south
and 3 miles from east to west at its broadest point. Between
Lake Huleh and the Lake of Tiberias (Sea of Galilee) the
river drops 690 feet in a distance of 10 miles, and becomes a
narrow turbulent stream.

The Lake of Tiberias is 13^ miles long and 7^ miles broad.
The surface is 682 feet below sea-level, and the greatest
depth 160 feet. The northern end of the Lake is muddy,
this being due to the turbulent nature of the Jordan, but
its southern part is quite clear and is potable, except in the
neighbourhood of the town of Tiberias. The Lake, as in
biblical days, is liable to sudden storms, and the local boat-
men avoid, so far as possible, crossing its centre after
mid-day.

Between the Lake of Tiberias and the Dead Sea, whose
surface lies 1,292 feet below sea-level, the Jordan falls nearly
600 feet. The Dead Sea, called by the Arabs Bahr Lut (the
Lake of Lot), is 48 miles long and 10 miles wide at its greatest
breadth, both dimensions being almost identical with those
of the Lake of Geneva. Its maximum depth is 1,310 feet,
but its southern extremity is shallow, and is separated from
the principal basin by a low-lying peninsula called al-Lisan
(' The Tongue '). It has been calculated that 6^ million
tons of water fall into the Dead Sea daily, and, in con-
sequence of the extraordinary evaporation which ensues,
the water remaining behind is impregnated to an unusual
extent with mineral substances. The water contains about
25 per cent, of solid substances, chloride of sodium (common
salt) contributing 7 per cent. The water has a bitter and
nauseous taste, due to the chloride of magnesium, while the
chloride of calcium makes it smooth and oily to the touch.
Owing to the intense buoyancy of the water, swimming is

GEOGRAPHY AND SCENERY 5

difficult, as the feet have too great a tendency to rise to the
surface. Fish cannot hve in Dead Sea water, which, indeed,
destroys practically all organic life.

The Jordan Valley itself seldom exceeds 3 miles in width
until it reaches Jericho and the neighbourhood of the Dead
Sea. It is highly fertile, and across it the Jordan winds
with unending sinuosities.

Harbours and Rivers. — The principal ports of Palestine
are, beginning in the north. Acre, Haifa, Jaffa and Gaza,
which will be described from the commercial point of view
in another part of this Handbook.

The principal rivers of Palestine, other than the Jordan,
and apart from wadis running dry in summer, are the
Jarmuk, the Kishon (Nahr Muqatta), the Zerqa and the
Auja.

Coast-line. — The shore along the whole coast-line of
Palestine is conspicuously uniform and low, mainly con-
sisting of long shallow curves of low sandy beach. With
the exception of the headland of Mount Carmel there are
no strongly marked prominences producing sheltered bays.
The small estuaries of the coastal streams are usually
closed by sand-bars.

§ 3. Palestine in Biblical Times.

Meaning of the term * Palestine.' — The term ' Palestine '
originally denoted only the coast strip once ruled by the
Philistines, 1 but had come by the beginning of the Christian
era to denote the territory lying between the ' River of
Egypt ' and Lake Huleh. Under the Roman Empire the
province of Palaestina extended along the coast from
a point near Rafa to Caesarea, and inland across the
Jordan to Gerasa and Canatha in what is now the Hauran.
In the last years of the Roman Empire and under
Byzantine rule the country was divided into Palaestina
Prima, corresponding roughly to Judaea, P. Secunda,
corresponding roughly to Galilee, and P. Tertia, cor-
responding to Arabia Felix. In this Handbook the term

IC/. Part III., §5.

6 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

Palestine denotes the British Mandatory area exclusive of
Trans-jordania.

Early Days. — From the earliest period of history Palestine
has been inhabited by peoples of Semitic race, who moved
from Arabia to Syria and Palestine in a long series of
immigrations. The Canaanitish immigration is the oldest
of which we know with certainty, its earliest w^ave including
the Phoenicians, who penetrated farthest to the west.
Following the example of the Old Testament, we are
accustomed to call the tribes who settled to the west of the
Jordan by the collective name of Canaanites, though they
are probably more correctly specified by the older biblical
writers as Amorites. At a later date seven tribes are
specified : Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Girga-
zites, Perizzites and Jebusites. The Hittites, as also the
Philistines, were non-Semitic. The Tel al-'Amarna tablets
(fifteenth century b.c.) refer to the ' Khabiri,' who included
the Israelites, Moabites, Amorites and Edomites, and are
identified by a once criticized but now increasingly
accepted theory with the Hebrews. The Canaanites were
followed by the Aramaeans, who were already settled in
Trans-jordania under the Kings of Israel. In these early
days Palestine was largely dependent upon Egypt, being
governed by princes tributary to the Pharaohs. Despite,
however, the political supremacy of Egypt the Tel al-
'Amarna tablets, which are written in Babylonian cunei-
form, indicate how largely the country lay under the
influence of Babylonian culture. Among these tributary
princes is mentioned a King of Urusalim (Jerusalem).

Early Jewish History. — The leader of the Israelites, to
whom they owed the basis of their religious development,
was Moses. Their settlement in the country west of the
Jordan was effected very slowly, partly by force of arms,
partly by peaceful assimilation with the Canaanites,
who at that time occupied a much higher plane of culture
than the Israelites. In the Old Testament the Israelites
are represented as divided into twelve tribes, several of
which, however, became merged in others in prehistoric

PALESTINE IN BIBLICAL TIMES 7

times ; thus the villages of the tribe of Simeon afterwards
belonged to Judah, while the tribe of Levi never possessed
any territory of its own. It is impossible to determine
accurately the districts of the individual tribes, as they
were subject to many variations. The boundaries men-
tioned in the book of Joshua represent merely a later theory.
The central position was occupied by the powerful tribe of
Joseph (Ephraim and the Half Tribe of Manasseh). Close
to these was the tribe of Benjamin, while the country to
the south was occupied by Judah, a tribe equal in power to
Joseph. Issachar occupied the Plain of Jezreel, extending
to the Jordan. Still farther to the north lay the territory
of Zebulon and Naphtali, and on the coast that of Asher.
The territory of Dan lay isolated in the extreme north.
The southern portion of the country to the east of the
Jordan was occupied by Reuben, whose territory, however,
was gradually conquered by the Moabites. Similarly Gad
and particularly the Half Tribe of Manasseh in Bashan had
great difficulty in defending themselves against the incur-
sions of their neighbours. According to the oldest historical
document, the Song of Deborah (Judges, v.), the men cap-
able of bearing arms numbered 40,000, which would imply a
total population of about 200,000 Israelites. The estimates
of the later writers are exaggerated. The chief bond of
union between the tribes at the so-called Period of the
Judges was the common veneration of the national deity
Yahweh, to whom corresponded Ba'al, the national god of
the Canaanites. Both were worshipped on the ' high
places,' and for this reason the later Hebrew historians
regard the worship of the high places as idolatry.

The Kingdoms of Israel and Judah. — The severe contests
of the Israelites with their western neighbours, the Philis-
tines, led to the establishment of a national kingdom
under Saul. The jealousy of the tribes, however, seriously
interfered with the stability of this administration.

Soon after the death of Saul, David succeeded in making
himself prince of Judah. But it was not till after the
murder of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, and his able general.

8 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

Abner, that he succeeded in extending his sway over the
other tribes. Under David the kingdom attained its
greatest extent. He made Jerusalem, the town of the
Jebusites, his capital, delivered the country from the Philis-
tines, humbled the Moabites, Edomites, and Ammonites,
the ancient enemies of Israel, and placed Damascus under
tribute. In internal affairs he was successful in suppressing
the conspiracy of his son Absolom and the revolt of the
northern provinces. He introduced an organized scheme
of administration, regulated the fiscal system, and created
a small standing army.

The government of Solomon contributed still more to
develop the resources of the country. He fortified Jeru-
salem and erected a magnificent palace and imposing
Temple. His reign seems also to have seen the beginning
of the Israelites' successful adoption of the richer culture of
the Canaanites and other neighbouring nations. Intercourse
with the neighbouring nations, especially with Egypt,
became more active. After a brief period of prosperity,
however, the decline of the empire began. Damascus
threw off the yoke of the Israelites, Edom revolted, and
dissensions sprang up in the interior. On the death of
Solomon the kingdom fell into two parts : Judah to the
south and Israel to the north.

First Shechem and then Tirzah was made the capital of
the Northern Kingdom, or Kingdom of Israel, by Jeroboam
I., but the seat of government was afterwards removed to
Samaria by Omri. Owing to the constant discord and
jealousy which disquieted the rival kingdoms, as well as
their internal dissensions, they fell an easy prey to the
encroachments of their neighbours. The princes of Dam-
ascus undertook several successful campaigns against
the northern kingdom, and it was not until the reign of
Jeroboam II. (785-745 b.c.) that the kingdom again attained
to its former dimensions. From this period dates the stele
of King Mesha of Moab, the most ancient monument bearing
a Semitic inscription yet discovered.

By the middle of the eighth century the Assyrians had

PALESTINE IN BIBLICAL TIMES 9

succeeded in making serious encroachments upon the
northern kingdom, and it was only with their assistance that
King Ahaz of Judah succeeded in defending himself against
Israel and Syria. He, as well as his successor Hezekiah,
paid tribute to the Assyrians. In 722 the kingdom of
Israel was destroyed, the inhabitants sent to the east, and
colonists substituted for them. In spite of the warnings
of Isaiah, Hezekiah entered into an alliance with Egypt
and Ethiopia, in consequence of which Sennacherib of
Assyria proceeded to attack the allies. The conquest of
Jerusalem, however, was prevented by the well-known
incident of the destruction of Sennacherib's army.

Meanwhile the worship of Yahweh was essentially
advanced by the writings of Amos, Hosea, Micah, Isaiah,
Jeremiah, and other prophets. The advance consisted
mainly in loftier ideas of the moral and spiritual nature of
the Deity, leading to the conception of Yahweh as the God,
not merely of Israel, but of the whole world. This was a
basis on which the religion of Israel could be preserved and
developed amid the coming troubles. One of the most
important events in the history of the religion of Israel is
the centralization of the worship of Yahweh in Jerusalem
in the days of Josiah (620 b.c), a movement consequent on
the introduction of the new book of the law, Deuteronomy.

The Captivity. — At length, in 597, the kingdom of Judah
was virtually destroyed, and Nebuchadnezzar carried off
King Jehoiakin with 10,000 of the principal inhabitants,
including the prophet Ezekiel, to Babylon. A revolt by
the last king, Zedekiah, resulted in the destruction of Jeru-
salem in 587 and a second deportation of its inhabitants.
Soon after this many Jews, Jeremiah among them, migrated
to Egypt.

During the Captivity, besides Ezekiel and Jeremiah, there
flourished the sublime anonymous prophet who wrote
chapters 40-66 of the book of Isaiah. In the year 538
Cyrus, after having conquered Babylon, permitted the
Jews to return to their native country. Only some of these,
however, availed themselves of this permission, and the

lo THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

new Jewish State was wholly comprised within the ancient
limits of Judah. The erection of the new Temple, which
had long been obstructed by the neighbouring nations, was
at length promoted by the prophets Haggai and Zechariah
(520-515), Ezra and Nehemiah established a set form of
ritual, following Ezekiel and the priestly legislation in
Leviticus and Numbers. The Idumaeans or Edomites
established themselves in South Judaea and Hebron. The
Nabataeans, an Arabian tribe which settled at Petra
about 300 B.C., supplanted the Edomites in the south-east
of Palestine. They conquered the territory of Moab and
Ammon, and even penetrated farther north. The central
districts were colonized by Cuthaeans, from whom, and also
from the remains of the earlier population, descended the
Samaritans, who erected a sanctuary of their own on Mount
Gerizim.

The Macedonian Supremacy and the Maccabees. — The
Macedonian Supremacy began in 332, but after Alexander's
death Palestine became the scene of the wars between the
' Diadochi,' as his successors werQ called. Greek culture
soon made rapid progress in Syria, as is evidenced by the
ruins of Graeco-Roman theatres, the relics of temples, the
inscriptions and coins. The Jews adhered steadfastly to
their traditions, but, in the third century B.C., the Aramaic
language gradually began to supplant the Hebrew. Greek
also came into frequent use among the cultured classes,
and in Egypt the sacred books were translated into Greek.
Among the Jews was even formed a party favourable to the
Greeks, which, aided by Jason, the high priest, succeeded
in securing the supreme power in the state. In consequence
of this a fierce struggle took place, for which King Antiochus
Epiphanes chastised the Jews severely. This, and still
more the desecration of their Temple, drove the Jews into
open revolt. At the head of the insurgents was the heroic
priest Mattathias, whose equally distinguished son Judas
Maccabaeus at length succeeded, in 165 B.C., in inflicting a
decisive defeat upon the Syrians. Under the Asmonean
princes, or Maccabees, the Jews enjoyed a comparatively

PALESTINE IN BIBLICAL TIMES ii

prosperous period of national independence, and John
Hyrcanus I. even succeeded in extending considerably the
dominions of Judaea by his conquests. During this epoch
the form of government was a theocracy, presided over by
a high priest, who, at the same time, enjoyed political
power, and ruled the country with the title of ' High Priest
and Uniter of the Jews ' ; but from the reign of Aristobulus
I. the Asmoneans assumed the title of king. The indepen-
dence of the country was at length disturbed in 63 B.C. by
the Romans, who, under Pompey, captured Jerusalem.
The Asmonean Hyrcanus II. reigned after this date under
Roman suzerainty.

The Idumaeans. — In 40 b.c. the Parthians plundered
Syria and Palestine, and in the troubles of that period
Herod the Idumaean, son of Antipater, the friend of
Hyrcanus, rose to power by the support of the Romans.
Herod, espousing throughout his career the Roman as
against the national Jewish side, bribed Cassius and Antony
in turn, succeeded in preserving his position under Augustus,
and was recognized by the Jews as King in 40 B.C.

Herod was a great builder, and the brilliance of his reign
earned him the title of the Great. Many of the Jews, how-
ever, resented deeply his encouragement of foreign civil-
ization and art.

In the time of Herod, the Jewish territories were divided
as follows : (i) Judasa, including Idumaea ; (2) Samaria ;
(3) Galilee ; (4) Peraea (' the country beyond ') ; (5) the
tetrarchy of Philip.

The Hellenistic towns east of the Jordan {e.g. Philadelphia,
Gerasa, Gadara, Pella), together with Scythopolis west of
the Jordan, formed a more or less compact political unit
under the name of the Decapolis.

Of the birth and ministry of Christ, and of the incidents
of His earthly life, this Handbook is not the place to speak.

Herod the Great died in the year of the birth of Christ,
i.e. 4 B.C. according to the accepted chronology as deter-
mined by Dionysius Exiguus in 525 a. d. The dominions
of Herod were now divided. To Philip were given the

12 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

districts of the Hauran (S.E.), to Herod Antipas, Galilee and
Peraea, to Archelaus, Samaria, Judaea, and Idumaea. In 6
A.D. the territory of Archelaus was added to the Roman pro-
vince of Syria, but was governed by procurators of its own.
The power of the native princes, such as Agrippa I., who
was the last prince to unite the whole of Herod's kingdom
under one monarch, and Agrippa II., whose share of Jewish
territory was, strictly speaking, confined to a few towns in
Galilee, became merely nominal as that of the Roman
governors increased. At length, in consequence of the
maladministration of Gessius Florus, a national insurrection
broke out with great violence. Jerusalem was captured
by Titus in 70 a. d., and the Temple was destroyed. Under
the leadership of Simon, surnamed Bar Cochba (' son of
the star '), there was a final revolt against the foreign yoke.
After a struggle lasting for three and a half years (132-135),
the insurrection was quelled and the last remnant of the
Jewish kingdom destroyed. Jerusalem became a Roman
colony under the name of ^Elia Capitolina, and the Jews
were denied access to their ancient capital.^

§ 4. Palestine under Rome, Byzantium and the Arabs.

Boman Rule. — The ensuing three centuries were relatively
uneventful in the history of Palestine. After the revolt of
the Jews in 132-5 a.d. the Emperor Julian the Apostate
once more raised the hopes of the Jewish people for a brief
moment. Previous to the interlude of his short reign a
change of the utmost importance had taken place within
the Roman Empire by the adoption of Christianity as the
official religion of the State, and this change was felt par-
ticularly in Palestine. The unaccustomed interval of peace
which the country was enjoying caused many Christian
pilgrims to visit the Holy Land in emulation of the Empress
Helena, and the country was soon thickly covered with
Christian religious establishments.

1 Cf. Sir G. A. Smith, Atlas of the Historical Geography of the Holy Land,
London, 1915.

PALESTINE UNDER THE ARABS 13

Byzantium and the Arabs. — On the partition of the
Roman Empire in 395 a.d., Palestine fell naturally to
the eastern or Byzantine half, but it was not long before the
growing power of Persia menaced the hold of the Byzantine
Emperors on the Holy Land. In 614 Jerusalem fell to
Chosroes II. after a siege of twenty days, and its treasures
were plundered. The Emperor Heraclius subsequently
recovered the country ; but in the struggles with the
Persians the Byzantine Empire underwent a process of
exhaustion which accounts very largely for its subsequent
collapse before the Arab invaders.

The Arab Conctuest. — The Arabs had from time im-
memorial ranged over the vast Syrian Plain as far as
Mesopotamia, and were now beginning to press forward
into Syria and Palestine. The southern Arabs (Yoqtanids
or Qahtanids) settled in the Hauran, while opposed to
them were the tribes of Northern Arabia (Ishmaelites) ;
but these tribes acquired a new significance after their
union had been effected by the Prophet Mohammed. As
the Byzantine Empire grew weaker, the raids of these
Arabs into Palestine became more frequent. Finally they
took the definite shape of deliberate conquest. The
invasion began in the south of Palestine, where the local
Governor, Sergius, operating from Caesarea, was defeated
early in 634. This Arab victory was followed up by another
in the same year, when Theodore, the brother of Heraclius,
was defeated in the Wadi al-Sant. Further victories
were won by the Arabs in 635, and in September of that
year Damascus surrendered. Heraclius now made his one
great effort to save Syria. In the summer of 636 an army
of imperial mercenaries and Armenians and Arabs (drawn
from the settled tribes of Syria) advanced through the
Biqa' and past Baniyas and across the Jordan, south of
Lake Huleh. They cut the communication between
Damascus and Arabia. But the Arabs had already aban-
doned Damascus and had taken their position on a strong
line of defence, just south of the River Yarmuk. The
opposing armies^seem to have faced one another on opposite

14 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

sides of the Yarmuk for some weeks. Futile negotiations
were carried on. Perliaps both sides awaited reinforce-
ments and feared to risk attack. Apparently the Greeks
at length took the offensive. The Arab victory was of
supreme importance for the future of Islam and therefore
for the history of the world. Unfortunately the course of
the battle cannot be ascertained in detail. Certainly the
Moslems were not greatly superior in point of numbers.
During one phase of the struggle the Greeks appear to have
been within sight of victory. But the composite character
of their army was a disadvantage. Their leaders were at
variance and perhaps their full force was not employed.
Although most of the Arabs fought on foot they had a
distinguished cavalry leader (Khalid ibn Walid), who seems
to have dealt the decisive blow. A sand-storm blowing in
the faces of the Greeks may have turned the scale against
them (20th August, 636).

After this battle Heraclius abandoned Syria. Probably
his resources were exhausted by the Persian war, so that he
could not do otherwise. The fate of the country therefore
depended upon the attitude of its own population. Jews,
Samaritans, and Christians all welcomed the Arabs as their
deliverers from the persecution and oppression of the
' orthodox ' Greeks. Naturally the Arab tribes of the
eastern frontier were ready to throw in their lot with
the new-comers. Not a single Syrian town was captured by
force of arms. Sooner or later they all Accepted the generous
terms of the Arab chiefs. Jerusalem and Caesarea were
strongholds of Greek sentiment and power. They sub-
mitted in the years 639 and 640 respectively, and, after the
surrender of Caesarea, Gaza and Ascalon made their
submission,

Palestine under the Omayyad and 'Abbasid Khalifs. —
For a century after the Arab conquest Palestine enjoyed
almost unbroken peace within its borders. From 661 till
750 it was ruled from Damascus by the Omayyad Khalifs,
and, after their overthrow by the 'Abbasids (so called on
account of their descent from the Prophet's paternal uncle

PALESTINE UNDER THE ARABS 15

'Abbas), from the capital of the latter at Baghdad, But the
distant 'Abbasid Khalifs never held the allegiance of Syria
and Palestine as did the Omayyads, and the process of
disintegration commenced in the Arab Empire. By the
middle or end of the ninth century Palestine and Syria
stand once more apart in their accustomed relation to
Egypt on the south and to the rulers of Mesopotamia on the
north-east. In 969 the Fatimite Khalifs began to rule over
Egypt and soon conquered Syria and Palestine. In the
eleventh century they were followed by the Seljuq Turks.
In the latter half of the tenth century, however, the Byzan-
tine Emperors had undertaken no fewer than four invasions
of Syria and Northern Palestine (in 975 the Emperor John
Zimisces actually reached Tiberias and Acre) ; and these
invasions, coupled with the internal dissensions of the Arab
Empire, paved the way for the Crusaders.

§ 5. The Crusades.

The First Crusade. — The Crusades, considered as a con-
quest of Palestine, were marked by several unique features.
They were, in the first place, the product of artificial co-
operation between a number of Western Powers, which was
only maintained with difficulty and frequently broke down
altogether. Its promoters were actuated by a variety of
motives : religious, romantic, dynastic, commercial. The
Crusaders proceeded with their task slowly and inter-
mittently, and their purpose, which was to plant western
feudalism in an eastern land, never wholly succeeded.
From the date of their first success the Crusaders organized
their conquests into four independent states, the Principality
of Antioch, the Counties of Tripoli and Edessa, and the
Kingdom of Jerusalem. It is only with the last of these
that the Handbook of Palestine is directly concerned.

The First Crusade aimed not merely at the deliverance of
the Holy City from Moslem rule or even only at the conquest
of Palestine and Syria ; rather was it an expedition by the
Christians of Western Europe, under the auspices of Western

i6 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

Europe's spiritual leader, the Pope, to relieve the Christians
of the East in general from Moslem oppression. Its leaders
were Robert, Duke of Normandy, Raymond, Count of
Toulouse, Robert, Count of Flanders, the Norman Dukes
Bohemond and Tancred, Godfrey de Bouillon and his
brother Baldwin, afterwards King Baldwin I. of Jerusalem.
Antioch was captured by Bohemond in 1098, and Jerusalem
on the 15th July, 1099 ; Damascus, however, together with
Homs and Aleppo, was never lost by the Moslems. There
is no space here to enter into the extremely picturesque
details of Crusading history ; it must suffice to chronicle
the outstanding facts. In the reign of Baldwin II. the
Latin conquests in the East reached their climax and the
Kings of Jerusalem, together with their vassals, the Princes
of Galilee, the Counts of Ascalon and Joppa, the Lord of
Montreal and others, ruled the land in feudal fashion. The
organization of the kingdom is well displayed in the famous
' Assizes of Jerusalem,' which laid down the constitution of
the country on a strictly feudal basis. The ' Assizes,' which
received their final form from the Cypriote jurisconsults of
the thirteenth century, embodied "the usages which Godfrey
ordered to be maintained and used in the Kingdom of
Jerusalem, by the which he and his men, and his people,
and all other manner of people going, coming, and dwelling
in his kingdom of Jerusalem were to be governed and
guarded. "1

The Assizes included two codes, one for the nobles, the
other for the bourgeoisie, which were deposited in a coffer
in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and from the place of
their custody were called ' Les Lettres du Sepulcre.' The
coffer could only be opened for the purposes of consulting
or modifying the law, and then only in the presence of nine
persons particularly specified, including the King and the
Patriarch.

The Second Crusade. — The early Crusaders weakened
their strength by repeated and futile attempts to capture
Damascus. Here they were opposed by the powerful

* Assizes of Jerusalem, i., 22.

THE CRUSADES 17

Emir Zanki (1127-40) ; and the second conquest of Edessa
by his son Nur al-Din (1146-74) gave rise to the Second
Crusade (1147-49). It was in the reign of Nur al-Din that
there came to the fore the famous Salah al-Din, better
known in the West as Saladin. Saladin, who was the
grandson of a 'Kurd named Shadi ibn Merwan and nephew
of Nur al-Din's general Shirkuh, soon made himself master
of Egypt ; and, after Nur al-Din's death, took advantage
of the dissensions in Syria to conquer that country also,
and thus to become the Franks' most formidable opponent.
The breach of a truce concluded between himself and the
Crusaders led to war, and on the 4th July, 1187, Saladin
' broke the Franks on the horns of Hattin and slew a great
multitude, and took their king prisoner.' This was the
greatest disaster which had as yet overtaken the Crusaders.
The True Cross was lost, and King Guy, together with his
nobles, made captive. Saladin now marched south. Nablus,
Caesarea, Jericho, Jaffa, opened their gates to him w;ithout
resistance; and on the 2nd October, 1187, he took Jeru-
salem, granting to the besieged terms of almost unparalleled
generosity.

The Third Crusade. — The fall of Jerusalem led to the
Third Crusade (1189-92), and the Latin colonies in Palestine
were saved from extinction for the moment by a great
European intervention. The Holy Roman Emperor,
Frederick I. Barbarossa, who headed the expedition, was
drowned in Cilicia before he reached the Holy Land.
The hero of this Crusade was King Richard Coeur de Lion ;
but Richard, although he performed prodigies of valour,
did not recover Jerusalem. The resources of the Third
Crusade were impaired by the rivalry between Richard and
the French King, Philip Augustus, and the only solid
advantages secured from Saladin by the peace signed on
the 2nd September, 1192, were the possession of a narrow
strip of coast between Tyre and Jaffa, and the right of the
Latins to make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, which city
remained in the hands of the Moslems.

The Fourth and Fifth Crusades. — Saladin died in 1193,
i.V- n

1 8 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

and his empire was dismembered. Nevertheless, the
respite which the Third Crusade had given to the Latin
Kingdom was a precarious one ; and the Fourth Crusade
in 1204 went sadly astray and did nothing to promote
Frankish interests in Palestine. The Fifth Crusade, led by
King Andrew of Hungary in 1217-18, was 'equally unsuc-
cessful. In both these Crusades the Italian maritime cities
of Amalfi and Pisa, Genoa and Venice were impelled by their
commercial ambitions to take an active part.

The Sixth Crusade. — Of more importance was the Sixth
Crusade, led by the heterodox Emperor Frederick II. By
the irony of history Frederick, who in many respects was far
in advance of his time, was first of all excommunicated for
not going on the Crusade, and was then excommunicated
for going. In 1229 he became master of Jerusalem without
shedding blood, only to find that the services of the Church
could not be celebrated in the Holy Sepulchre, because the
Pope had laid every town in which Frederick might be, the
goal of the Christian world not excepted, under an interdict.
For the next ten years Jerusalem was again a Latin city.

The Last Crusades. — At the end of Frederick's ten years
of truce with the Moslems the Seventh Crusade set out
under the leadership of Theobald, King of Navarre, and
landed at Acre in the autumn of 1239. An attempt to
recover Ascalon involved the Christian army in disaster,
and in the following year Theobald went home, leaving a
large number of prisoners in the hands of the Moslems, from
whom their freedom was subsequently bought by Richard,
Earl of Cornwall. In 1244 Jerusalem was sacked by the
Khwarizmians, a Tatar tribe from the south of Lake
Aral. ^

The Eighth Crusade (1248-50) owed its inception to the
piety and enthusiasm of S. Louis IX. of France, but, in
spite of its leader's zeal, accomplished nothing tangible so
far as Palestine was concerned. With the Crusade of
Edward, Prince of Wales, afterwards Edward I. of England
(1271-72), the Crusading movement spent its force.
Accounts of the Crusades from the western point of view

THE CRUSADES

are numerous and need not be detailed here ; for a lucid
history of these events from the Moslem point of view the
reader is referred to Stevenson, The Crusaders in the East
(Cambridge, 1907).

The Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. — The following
sovereigns occupied the throne of Jerusalem between 1099
and the fall of Acre in 1291 : —

Godfrey de Bouillon (refused title of King)

Baldwin L -

Baldwin II. -

Melisende and Fulk of Anjou {jure

uxoris) ------

Melisende and Baldwin III. -

Baldwin III. alone - _ _ _ _

Amaury I.-
Baldwin IV. -
Baldwin V. ----- -

Sybil and Guy de Lusignan (Lord of

Cyprus, 1 192) {jure uxoris)
Guy de Lusignan alone - - - -
Isabella and Henry of Champagne {jure

uxoris) ------

Isabella and Amaury II. (I, of Cyprus)

{jure uxoris) -----
Isabella alone - - - - -
Mary - - - - - ' -
Mary and John de Brienne {jure uxoris) -
Yolande and John de Brienne {jure filiae)
Yolande and Frederick (Emperor Frederick

II.) {jure uxoris) - _ _ _
Conrad and Frederick {jure filii)
Conrad alone ------

Conradin ----_.

Hugh (III. of Cyprus) - - - -

Charles of A njou disputes the crown
John (I. of Cyprus) - _ _ _

Henry (II. of Cyprus) - . - _

Reigned.
IO99-IIOO
IIOO-II18
III8-II3I

II3I-II44
II44-II52
II52-II62
II62-II73
II73-II85
I185-I186

I186-II9O
II9O-II92

II92-II97

II97-I205

1205

I205-I2IO

I2IO-I2I2

I212-I225

I225-I228
I228-I243
I243-I254
I254-I268
I269-I284

i2yy - 1286
1284-1285
1285-1291

20 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

During the latter years of its existence the Latin King-
dom dwindled rapidly in extent and strength. Not only
was it being shaken by the advancing assaults of the
Moslems, but it was torn by internal and dynastic dis-
sension between rival princes and between these and their
vassals. Conrad and his son Conradin, the last of the
Hohenstaufen, were Kings of Jerusalem in name only ;
they were never crowned as such and never took possession
of the kingdom. On the execution of Conradin the crown
of Jerusalem, together with the meagre remnants of the
kingdom, passed to the Kings of Cyprus ; and with the
capture of Acre, its last remaining town, by the Mame-
luke Sultan Melek al-Ashraf, son of Sultan Qala'un, in
1291 1 the de facto existence of the Kingdom of Jeru-
salem came to an end. The Kings and Queens of
Cyprus continued to bear the title until the end of the
Lusignan Kingdom of Cyprus in 1489, and after the fall
of Acre received the crown of Jerusalem at Famagusta,
as being the Cypriote town geographically nearest to
the lost kingdom. The title then passed by descent to
the House of Savoy, now the Royal House of Italy ; and
until 1 86 1 the coins of the Kings of Sardinia bore the legend :
' King of Sardinia, Cyprus, and Jerusalem.' The title
' King of Jerusalem ' is borne to this day by the Kings of
Spain as heirs of the Angevins and through them of Mary
of Antioch, as it was until 191 8 by the Emperors of Austria.

The Military Orders. — The most characteristic, and
perhaps the most permanent features of the Crusades were
the Military Orders, of which the most prominent were the
Templars and the Hospitallers. Both Orders owed their
institution to the charitable purpose of attending the
poor and sick Christian pilgrims ; both derived their origin
from the Holy City of Jerusalem ; both subsequently became
sovereign states and the most forrnidable military instru-
ments of the Crusaders. Most of the remarkable Crusading
castles which still crown the strategic heights of Palestine
and Syria (Krak des Chevaliers, Banias, La Pierre du

^See Schlumberger, Prise de St. Jean d'Acre en Van 1291. Paris, 1914.

THE CRUSADES 21

Desert, Montreal, Safita, Merqab and many others) were
the strongholds of these Orders ; and at times the Crusading
Kings found the Knights to be as truculent and unruly in
peace as they were valiant in war. The Knights Templar
ruled Cyprus as its sovereigns from 1191-1192, and were
dissolved by the Pope in 1312 ; the Knights Hospitallers,
after reigning in Rhodes and then in Malta until the dawn
of the nineteenth century, now reside in Rome, where they
still maintain under their Grand Masters their sovereign
status as the Order of S. John of Jerusalem. For the
Crusading activities of this Order see Delaville Le Roulx,
Les Hospitaliers en Terre Sainte et a Chypre (Paris, 1904).
For the English Order of S. John of Jerusalem, see
Part n., § II.

§ 6. Palestine under the Mamelukes and Turks.

The Mamelukes. — For the ensuing two centuries Palestine
practically disappears from history. With the final depar-
ture of the Franks in 1291 it loses all semblance of
independence, and passes, together with Syria, under the
Mameluke (Caucasian slave) dynasty of Egypt. The out-
standing Mameluke figures in the annals of Palestine are
the Sultans Bibars (1260-1277) and Qala'un (1279-1290),
both equally famous as warriors and as builders. At the
beginning of the fifteenth century the land was plagued by
the Mongols under Timur-lenk (' Timur the Lame,' Tamer-
lane), but afterwards, under the Mameluke Sultans, enjoyed
a farther period of immunity from external attack. In
15 16 war broke out between the Mamelukes and the Ottoman
Turks ; and by 15 17 Egypt, Syria and Palestine were in the
hands of the latter.

Palestine under the Turks. — The sixteenth and seven-
teenth centuries are on the whole unimportant in the history
of Palestine, although it may here be noted that the walls
of Jerusalem were rebuilt in their present form in 1542 by
Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent. Two men alone emerge
from an obscure multitude of Pashas and Beys. The first

22 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

of these, 'Omar al-Daher, was early in the eighteenth century
an Arab chief, whose principal village was Safed. Having
seized Tiberias he carried on war with the pashas of
Damascus, just as Tancred had done with their pre-
decessors in the Crusading period. In 1749 he seized Acre
from a subordinate of the pasha of Sidon and established
himself in it. He restored somewhat the defences of the
city, attracted the population by his good government,
increased his power by treaties with Arab tribes and with
the Metawileh, and thus became strong enough to wage
war with Damascus on equal terms. When he allied himself
with the Egyptian ruler 'Ali Beg (1770-3), and obtained
the help of Russian ships (1772-3), there was a prospect of
his becoming master of all southern Syria. But the death
of 'Ali Beg (1773) and the peace between Turkey and Russia
(1774) and quarrels with his own sons resulted in his defeat
and death (1775). His successor in Acre was Ahmed al-
Jezzar. He was a Bosnian by birth, had been a slave of
the Egyptian Begs, and had recently won a military reputa-
tion in Syria. Adventurers flocked to his service, and his
pashalik extended until it included the coast from Beirut
to Caesarea, along with northern Palestine and the Biqa'.
His efforts to gain the pashalik of Damascus were not
permanently successful, but he was the most powerful ruler
in Syria, and by fortifying Acre (from 1786 onwards) made
it the strongest town on the coast. The Ottoman Govern-
ment would have dispossessed him more than once if they
had been able. Yet when Napoleon invaded Syria they
appointed him at once chief commander of their forces.

The Invasion of Napoleon I. — In 1799 Napoleon, return-
ing from Egypt, captured Jaffa and laid siege to Acre. At
this juncture the French in Egypt were being threatened
by the British Fleet under Commodore Sir Sidney Smith,
while a Turkish army was assembling in Syria. Napoleon's
object was to compel the Ottoman Government to come to
terms with France. He defeated the Turks on the Plain
of Jezreel, and advanced as far as Nazareth and Safed ; but
he failed to capture Acre, gallantly defended by Sidney

THE MAMELUKES AND TURKS 23

Smith. By the beginning of June, 1799, Napoleon had
withdrawn from Palestine.

Mohammed 'All and Ibrahim Pasha. — The reforming
Sultan Mahmud II. (1808-39) introduced some order into
the Turkish administration of Palestine, but his efforts
were hampered by the turbulence of 'Abdullah, son of
Jezzar, who became Pasha of Acre in 1820 and soon made
himself almost independent of the Sultan. The crisis and
end of 'Abdullah's career were provoked by a conflict with
Mohammed 'Ali, ruler of Egypt. The Egyptian invasion
of Palestine in 1831 was directed against 'Abdullah in the
first place, although it was taken by the Ottoman Govern-
ment to be a challenge to its authority, and so inaugurated
a war between Egypt and the Ottoman Turks for the
possession of Syria. A brief campaign, in which a siege of
Acre and a battle near Homs were the chief events, secured
Palestine and Syria for the Egyptians. A^ter several
years of occupation, in which the Ottoman Government
acquiesced, the struggle was renewed (1839). A fleet,
chiefly British, representing the. European allies of the
Sultan, attacked the coast towns in 1840. Within four
months, without any great battle being fought, the
Egyptian army, under Ibrahim Pasha, evacuated the
country. Nevertheless, the nine years of Egyptian occupa-
tion had done much towards centralizing the administration
of the country. Ibrahim abolished the decentralized
pashaliks and broke the power of the local chieftains ; he
enforced regular taxation ; and he compelled the recogni-
tion of non-Moslem rights in local government. During
his regime, moreover, Europeans were encouraged in
Palestine and Syria as they were by his father in Egypt ;
and to this period we owe the travel books of Kinglake,
Lamartine and many others. During these nine years
Europe progressed from a state of mediaeval ignorance
of the country almost to its present well-informed con-
dition.

Palestine held aloof from the troubles which beset Syria
in i860 and led to the intervention of Napoleon III.

24 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

The highly centraHzed rule of 'Abdu'l Hamid II., while
oppressive in many respects, was distinctly beneficial to
the advance of Palestine, and during his reign the land
increased in prosperity and population.

§ 7. Palestine under the British Mandate.

Capture of Palestine, 1917. — The circumstances attending
the entry of the Ottoman Empire into the war and the
brilliant operations which led to the capture of Palestine
from the Turks by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force,
under the command of General (now Field-Marshal Lord)
AUenby, are too recent in the public memory to require
detailed narration here. They are well recounted in the
Record of the Advance of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force,
compiled by Lt. -Colonel H. Pirie-Gordon, Military Editor
of the Palestine News, Cairo, 19 19. General Allenby began
his operations in October, 19 17, and on the 31st of the
month had taken Beersheba. Gaza fell on the 7th
November, and on the i6th November Jaffa was occupied
without opposition. These successes enabled a converging
movement to be made on Jerusalem ; and at noon of the
9th December a Turkish parlementaire conveyed the sur-
render of the city to the Commander-in-Chief, who made
his official entry two days afterwards, walking into
Jerusalem by the Jaffa Gate, followed by his staff and by
representatives of the French and Italian contingents.
The notable proclamation which, standing at the top
of the Citadel steps, he caused to be read to the people in
English, French, Italian, Arabic and Hebrew, ran as
follows :

' To the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Blessed and the
people dwelling in the vicinity. The defeat inflicted upon
the Turks by the troops under my command has resulted
in the occupation of your city by my forces. I therefore
here and now proclaim it to be under martial law, under
which form of administration it will remain so long as
military considerations make it necessary. However, lest

THE BRITISH MANDATE 25

any of you should be alarmed by reason of your experience
at the hands of the enemy who has retired, I hereby inform
you that it is my desire that every person should pursue
his lawful business without fear of interruption.

' Furthermore, since your City is regarded with affection
by the adherents of three of the great religions of mankind,
and its soil has been consecrated by the prayers and pil-
grimages of multitudes of devout people of these three
religions for many centuries, therefore do I make known
to you that every sacred building, monument, holy spot,
shrine, traditional site, endowment, pious bequest, or
customary place of prayer, of whatsoever form of the three
religions, will be maintained and protected according to
the existing customs and beliefs of those to whose faiths
they are sacred.'

The Balfour Declaration. — Zionism is the movement for
the establishment in Palestine of a National Home for the
Jewish People. As a tnovement of return it may be said
to date from the destruction of the national existence of
the Jews in Palestine by the Romans in the second century
A.D. Since that time the ideal has been tenaciously pre-
served by Jews throughout the world.

During the nineteenth century various English statesmen
gave such political support as was then possible to the
ideal. In modern times, too, England has been pre-eminent
amongst the Powers in encouraging and furthering its
realization.

Jewish colonization in Palestine, as it is now understood,
began in 1880. It was at that period that the persecution
of the Jews in Russia and Eastern Europe stimulated the
return to Palestine, and Jewish settlements sprang up in
different parts of the country. It was not, however, until
Theodor Herzl, an Austrian Jewish publicist and dramatist,
conceived, in 1897, the project of summoning a Congress
of Jews, that Zionism became a political movement. That
Congress defined the meaning of Zionism as the effort to
win ' a legally-secured, publicly-recognized Home for the
Jewish People in Palestine.'

26 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

Even when it was still impracticable to obtain a charter
for Jewish settlement in Palestine, the British Government
made an offer of a tract of land in British East Africa for
the up-building of an autonomous Jewish State ; but this
alternative was not accepted by the Zionist masses.

On the outbreak of war, however, what had hitherto been
a vision of idealists became the practical policy of statesmen,
and on the 2nd November, 191 7, during the advance
into Palestine of the Allied Forces under General Allenby,
the Earl of (then Mr. Arthur) Balfour, at the time Foreign
Secretary, made on behalf of His Majesty's Government
the following historic Declaration :

' His Majesty's Government view with favour the estab-
lishment in Palestine of a National Home for the Jewish
people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the
achievement of that object, it being understood that nothing
shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious
rights of existing non- Jewish communities in Palestine, or
the rights and political status enjoyed by the Jews in any
other country.'

The Declaration was endorsed by the principal Allied
Powers and embodied in the Treaty of Sevres, signed on the
loth August, 1920. In that Treaty, under which Turkey
renounces her sovereignty over Palestine, it is provided that
the country shall be entrusted to a Mandatory Power,
which shall carry out the terms of the Declaration according
to a Mandate to be approved by the League of Nations.
At the Supreme Council of the Allied Powers held at San
Remo in April, 1920, it was agreed that Great Britain should
be entrusted with the Mandate.

After the Balfour Declaration a body, then known as the
Zionist Commission, was constituted of representatives of
the constituent federations of the World Zionist Organiza-
tion to act in Palestine as a link between the British
authorities and Zionist interests. This body, which is
now known as the Palestine Zionist Executive, is financed
by subscriptions from Jews throughout the world, and
administers the greater part of Jewish education in

THE BRITISH MANDATE 27

Palestine, besides controlling many projects of agriculture
and colonization.

The meaning of the Balfour Declaration can best be
summarized in the following extracts from the High Com-
missioner's Interim Report on the Civil Administration of
Palestine, 1920-21 {cf. Part I., § 2, and infra), and from a
statement made by him on the 3rd June, 192 1 :

' They [sc. the Jews) ask for the opportunity to establish
a " home " in the land which was the political, and has
always been the religious, centre of their race. They ask
that this home should possess national characteristics — in
language and customs, in intellectual interests, in religious
and political institutions. . . .

■' If the growth of Jewish influence were accompanied by
Arab degradation, or even by a neglect to promote Arab
advancement, it would fail in one of its essential purposes.
... In a word, the degree co which Jewish national aspira-
tions can be fulfilled in Palestine is conditioned by the rights
of the present inhabitants. . . .'

In the statement of the 3rd June, 1921, the Declaration
is defined to mean that ' the Jews, a people who are
scattered throughout the world, but whose hearts are always
turned to Palestine, should be enabled to found here their
home, and that some among them, within the limits that
are fixed by the numbers and interests of the present
population, should come to Palestine in order to help by
their resources and efforts to develop the country, to
the advantage of all its inhabitants.'

The Military Administration, 1917-1920.— At the head of
the Military Administration of Palestine General Allenby,
whose headquarters were then at Ludd, appointed Brigadier-
General (now Sir Gilbert) Clayton, who was also Chief
Political Officer to the Commander-in-Chief. The first
Military Governor of Jerusalem was Borton Pasha, Post-
master-General of Egypt, who, owing to a breakdown in
health, was succeeded after two weeks by Mr. Ronald
Storrs, Oriental Secretary to the Residency in Cairo. The
Governorate was first established in Hughes's Hotel, but

28 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

was soon moved to the German Lazarist Hospice of S. Paul,
by the Damascus Gate.

The part of Palestine already occupied was divided into
the following districts : Jerusalem, Jaffa, Gaza, Hebron
and Beersheba. This division continued in vigour until
Lord AUenby's great drive in September, 1918, when the
remainder of Palestine, Syria and Cilicia were cleared of the
Turks. Thereupon Military Governors were posted to
Nablus, Jenin, Tulkeram, Haifa, Nazareth, Acre, Tiberias,
and Safed.

In 1919 the districts were reduced from thirteen to ten
by the amalgamation of Acre with Haifa and of Tiberias
and Safed with Nazareth, and were again reduced, on the
establishment of the Civil Government on the ist July,
1920, from ten to seven by the absorption of Jenin
into Nablus, of Tulkeram into Haifa and Jaffa, and of
Kebron into Jerusalem, when the seven official districts
consequently became Jerusalem, Jaffa, Beersheba, Gaza,
Phoenicia (Haifa), Galilee (Nazareth) and Samaria (Nablus).

As a general rule Municipal Councils continued in office
and, at the expiration of their period of office, were replaced
by nomination by the Military Governor. In some cases
the Administration advanced subsidies in order to assist
Municipalities to meet the demands of the Public Health
Authorities for a higher standard of sanitation.

As far as was compatible with the military nature of the
occupation and with the peculiar political conditions of
Palestine, the Ottoman codes of law were applied to the
country. Early in 19 18 a Legal Adviser was appointed,
and the Courts, whose action had been interrupted for a
few weeks only, were again set going, so far as possible,
with Palestinian judges and officers, superintended by
trained British officers.

The Police were recruited partly from the better and more
active elements of the former Turkish police and gend-
armerie, partly from the Palestinian population.

Among the other institutions with which the military
authorities endowed the country may be cited public

THE BRITISH MANDATE 29

gardens, Chambers of Commerce, branches of the Boy Scouts
and Girl Guides, the Jerusalem School of Music, subsequently-
presented to the Jewish community. Indigenous industries,
that had been allowed to die out, were revived under the
auspices of the Pro- Jerusalem Society, of which more will
be said hereafter. In 191 8 a well-known British architect
was summoned from London to examine and report upon
the state of the venerable mosques and other buildings in
the ancient Temple enclosure in Jerusalem, which had
been neglected by the Turks and allowed to fall into decay.
Large sums were spent upon improving the roads of
Palestine, the bridges destroyed during the military opera-
tions were strengthened or rebuilt, and a steel bridge was
thrown across the Ghoraniyeh passage of the Jordan.

The state of Jerusalem in December, 191 7, can hardly
be imagined by those who see it now. No sanitary
arrangements of any sort existed in the old city, and
practically none in the new. As the only water supply
was derived from private rain-fed cisterns, it was impossible
to do very much to combat the resulting evils until a proper
water supply had been introduced. Seven military sanitary
sections were lent by the army and placed at the disposal
of the Governorate. In addition to this, it was made the
work of one special sweeper to patrol the Via Dolorosa from
end to end and to keep it free from pollution. Later in the
spring of 191 8, to the intense satisfaction of the inhabitants,
the Commander-in-Chief gave the order for a piped water
supply to be put into Jerusalem. At Arrub, south of
Bethlehem, pumps were erected over an ancient reservoir,
said to have been excavated by Pontius Pilate. Pales-
tinians of all classes were not slow to remark that the Turks,
after an occupation which had lasted over four hundred
years, had left Jerusalem, as regards the water supply,
slightly worse than they found it, whereas the British Army,
whilst still uncertain of its tenure, had, in a few months,
endowed the city with a supply which rendered it, to
a certain extent, independent of the chances of the
weather.

3© THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

which W
Jeru- I

One of the gravest and most harassing problems
beset the Government was that of the food supply,
salem is fed largely by wheat imported from Trans-jordania
or, if that fails, from overseas. At the time of the British
occupation the first of these sources was cut off by the
Turks, who were still in possession of the rich corn lands of
Amman, Kerak and the Hauran. The second was curtailed
by submarines. The Turks had moved with them all food
supplies that they could carry. There were practically no
available supplies in the city. Army provisions were, very
naturally, required for the army ; and transport was work-
ing over broken and unmade roads under every sort of
disadvantage. Women and children were to be seen
walking in the streets in every stage of emaciation and
besieging Government offices for a crust of bread. Here
again the British Army came to the rescue and, on the
urgent representations of the Government, supplied at once,
and continued to supply until long after, a sufficient quantity
of wheat to enable the Government to set up food stores
and ration cards, and to avert the terror of starvation.

In the spring of 1920 occasional minor disturbances
occurred in more than one part of Palestine ; and on the
4th April, 1920, a racial riot, which was soon suppressed,
broke out in Jerusalem.

The Chief Administrators under the Military Administra-
tion subsequent to Brigadier-General Clayton were :

Major-General Sir A. Money - March, 1918-July, 1919.

Major-General Sir H. D. Watson August-December, 1919.

Major-General Sir L. Bols - January- June, 1920.

The Civil Administration, 1st July, 1920.— The Military
Administration (Occupied Enemy Territory Administration)
terminated on the 30th June, 1920, and on the ist July the
Rt. Hon. Sir Herbert Samuel, P.C., G.B.E., assumed office
as His Majesty's High Commissioner for Palestine, and a
Civil Administration was set up. In October, 1920, there
was constituted an Advisory Council, consisting of 10
unofficial members nominated by the High Commissioner
(4 Moslems, 3 Christians, 3 Jews) and of 10 official members.

THE BRITISH MANDATE 31

English, Arabic and Hebrew were made the official languages
of the country.

On the ist May, 1921, and succeeding days there was
rioting in Jaffa and neighbourhood, which developed into
racial strife. A Commission, under the chairmanship of
Sir T. Hay craft. Chief Justice of Palestine, was appointed
to inquire into the disturbances ; its report was presented
to Parliament in October, 1921 (Cmd. 1540).

For a succinct official account of the first year of the Civil
Administration of Palestine the reader is referred to the
High Commissioner's Interim Report (Cmd. 1499), published
in August, 1921.

On the ist July, 1922, there took place a reorganization
of the administrative divisions of the country {cf.
Part v., § i).

On the 24th July, 1922, the Council of the League of
Nations approved the Mandate for Palestine, the text of
which is printed in the appendix to this volume.

PART II.

PEOPLES AND RELIGIONS.

§ I. Race and Language.

Palestine, the land which has given to the world Judaism
and Christianity and has played an important part in the
early development of Islam, is now inhabited by representa-
tives of many races. The largest element of the population
is composed of Arabs and Syrians,^ both separately and
in every degree of combination. The language of this m
element is Arabic ; its religions are Islam and Chris ti- 11
anity. Next in numerical strength are the Jews, whose
languages will be referred to below. Immigration in the
nineteenth and twentieth centuries has contributed the
bulk of the present Jewish population of Palestine ; the sole
representatives of ancient Israel continuously inhabiting ■
the country are to be found in the small remnant of the
Samaritans {cf. infra). Other races are only represented
on a small scale, and will be referred to below under their
religious classifications. ,

§ 2. Population.

No census has been taken in Palestine since the country
has come under British administration, and it is there-
fore impossible to give in this edition of the Handbook

^ For the definition of the wider sense in which the term " Syrian " is used here,
see below, § 3.

POPULATION 33

anything more than approximate estimates of the popu-
lation.

The population of Palestine (exclusive of Trans-jordania
and exclusive of the British garrison) is estimated as follows
(1922) :

Moslems - - - - 583,188

Christians - - - - 84,559

Jews ----- 79,293

Druses ----- 7,034

Metawileh - - - - 160

Baha'is _ . - - 158

Samaritans - - - - 157

Total, - 754.549

The Moslem total includes not only Arabs and Syrians,
but a number of Circassian, Magharbeh (North African)
and Bosnian immigrants and a few Turkoman nomads.

The Christian total includes adherents of the Orthodox,
Roman Catholic, Greek Uniate (Melchite), Anglican, Arme-
nian (Gregorian), Armenian Uniate, Jacobite, Jacobite
Uniate (Syrian), Coptic, Abyssinian, Abyssinian Uniate,
Maronite, Chaldaean (Nestorian Uniate), Lutheran and other
Churches.

The British population (exclusive of the garrison) is
estimated at 1,100 souls.

The density of the population is about 80 to the square
mile.

Principal Towns. — The following towns have a popula-
tion of 10,000 and over (the figures are approximate) :

Population.

Jerusalem - - - - 64,000

Jaffa- - - - - 45,100

Haifa - - - - 39,000

Nablus - -• - - 20,600

Hebron _ _ - - 16,300

Gaza - - - - 15,000

Safed - - . - - 12,500

Ramleh - - - - 1 0,000

34 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

§ 3. Arabs and Syrians.

The Arab population falls naturally into two categories,
the nomads {bedawi), and the settled Arabs {hadari). The
former are the purer in blood, being the direct descendants
of the half-savage nomadic tribes who from time immemorial
have inhabited the Arabian peninsula, and who to this day
dwell in portable tents of black goats' hair (' the tents of
Kedar '). The camps of the different tribes vary in form :
some, such as those of the Ta'amireh, are as a rule rect-
angular, others are circular, others oval. Small in numbers,
the tribes generally avoid open places for their camps, not
only for shelter but in order not to be conspicuous ; for
similar reasons they pitch their camps at some distance
from their watering places. Natural caves in the wadis
are preferred by some families [e.g. at Mar Saba), as they
afford better shelter and protection. There is little or no
cohesion between the various tribes. Their watering places
are springs, standing pools of rain water, and cisterns
roughly cut in the rock in the valley bottoms. On the
border between ' the desert and the sown ' the people tend
to change their mode of life ; the nomads become partly or
wholly sedentary, the sedentary become semi-nomadic.
Thus the people on the western edge of the Judaean Desert,
as, for example, the Ta'amireh, who were ovigimWy fellahin,
take their cattle out into the desert and live a nomadic life ;
on the other hand, genuine Beduin in the desert regions,
such as the Rasha'iden of 'Ain Jidi, remain so long in certain
places as to become almost sedentary.

The Beduin are for the most part Moslems, but are on
the whole less devout than the settled Arabs. Some of
the Beduin, especially around Salt and Madaba in Trans-
jordania, still retain the Christianity which they adopted
in the early centuries of the Christian era.

A negroid element is found among the inhabitants of the
tropical Ghor region in the lower Jordan Valley and around
the Dead Sea. The presence of these people is attributed
by some to a settlement from the Sudan, by others to the

ARABS AND SYRIANS 35

introduction of negro slaves purchased at Mecca by pilgrims
and retailed at Ma'an.

The settled Arabs are of more mixed descent than the
Beduin, and form the link between these and the Syrians,
by whom we understand the descendants of all those
peoples, other than the Jews, who spoke Aramaic at the
beginning of the Christian era. Some of these have retained
their Christianity, but the majority have in the course of
ages embraced Islam. The Aramaic language, after holding
its ground for a considerable time in Palestine and Syria,
ultimately gave place to Arabic (though surviving among
the Samaritans and, as regards Syrians, in three villages
north-east of Damascus), and this process was facilitated
by the continuous replenishment of Palestine and Syria
from the tribes of the Arabian Desert. This Arab infiltration
has created and maintains the specific racial character of the
population. The distinction between the Arabs and the
Syrians is now not so much racial as cultural. The Syrians
are agriculturists and dwellers in towns, civilized, industrial,
and of peaceful inclinations ; the Arabs are a pastoral people
organized in tribes and with a natural tendency towards
inter- tribal warfare. Palestine and Syria offer, on their
eastern border, examples of every stage of transition from
the nomad Beduin to the settled fellahin ; the Arab conquest
of the eighth century was only the flood-tide of a continuous
overflow from the desert into the cultivated land of the West.

§ 4. Circassians, Bosnians and Magharbeh.

Circassians. — The Russian conquest of the Caucasus in
the sixties of the last century caused many Moslem tribes-
men of the Caucasus range and adjacent provinces, unwilling
to live under Christian rule, to seek refuge in a Moslem land.
The Treaty of Berlin in 1878 gave an added impetus to this
movement, and 'Abdu'l Hamid cleverly made use of the
circumstances to plant colonies of these virile and truculent
fighting races on the desert fringes and marches of his
empire. He established a number of colonies of these

36 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

people, generically termed Circassians, but including besides
Circassians proper members of several other tribes, on the
eastern border of Syria and Palestine and in what is now
termed Trans-jordania. There are at present about 900
Circassians in Palestine, and a number have latterly been
enrolled in the Gendarmerie.

Bosnians. — Similarly, upon the occupation of Bosnia and
Hercegovina by Austria in 1878, a number of Moslem
Bosnians (who are Islamized Serbs), elected to emigrate
into Turkish territory. The Turkish authorities granted
facilities to them, and established some families within the
ruined city of Caesarea, where the community, now number-
ing 331 souls, continues to cultivate its lands.

Magharbeji. — The influx of Moslems from North Africa
into Syria and Palestine began in the early years of the
eighteenth century, when the mercenary infantry of the
pashas was composed in part of these people. Some had,
indeed, been established in Jerusalem from religious motives
from a yet earlier period ; while others followed in the
nineteenth century in consequence of the French conquest
of Algeria. There is a large and ancient settlement of
Magharbeh in the low-lying part of the old city of Jeru-
salem, situated between the Wailing Wall of the Jews and
the Dung Gate, also called the ' Gate of the Magharbeh ' ;
its inhabitants were established there by the charity of the
Abu Madian waqf. In Galilee the number of Magharbeh
is estimated at 1,900.

§ 5. I slant in Palestine.

With the exception of small Shiah colonies (see below

under ' Metawileh ' ) the Moslems' of Palestine are Sunnis

(Traditionists) , divided among the four rites {mazhah)

approximately in the following proportions :

Shafi - - - - 70%

Hanbali - - - 19%

Hanafi _ _ _ 10%

Maliki , , , lO/^

ISLAM IN PALESTINE 37

Under the Ottoman Government the Hanafi was the
estabhshed rite, it being to this school that the majority of
Turks belong.

Jerusalem, chronologically the first qibleh (point of
adoration) of Islam, is almost as sacred in the eyes of
Moslems as are Mecca and Medina ; and from the early ages
of Islam Quds al-Sherif, to give the city its Moslem name,
has been a place of pilgrimage for the entire Mohammedan
world . According to Moslem belief it is from Jerusalem that
Mohammed was translated to heaven. There are in Jeru-
salem old-established tekyes (convents) set apart for North
African, Indian, Afghan, Bokharan, Sudanese and other
Moslem pilgrims.

Shrines. — There are three Moslem shrines of the first
importance, beside many lesser ones, in Palestine, namely
the Dome of the Rock and the Mosque al-Aqsa in the Haram
al-Sherif in Jerusalem, and the Mosque of Abraham, which
encloses and surmounts the Cave of Machpelah at Hebron.
These monuments will be farther described in Part III.

Sharia Council and Courts. — Arising out of a series of
conferences of Moslem 'Ulema and notables there was
established, by the High Commissioner's Order of the 20th
December, 192 1, a Supreme Moslem Sharia Council, to have
authority over all Moslem waqfs and Sharia Courts in
Palestine. The Council consists of a President, known as
the Rais al-'Ulema (Haj Emin al-Huseini, elected in 1922),
and four members, of whom two represent the District of
Jerusalem, one Nablus, and one Acre. The Rais al-'Ulema
is permanent President of the Council, the four members
being elected by an electoral college for a period of four
years. Embodied in the High Commissioner's Order are
the regulations, drawn up by a Moslem Committee, laying
down the functions and powers of the Council.

For details of the Sharia Courts see Part Y.,A dministration
of Justice.

Waqfs. — Moslem religious endowments {waqfs), that is,
property appropriated or dedicated (by a document called a
waqfiah) to charitable uses and the service of God, are

38 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

divided as regards their administration into two categories,
those formerly administered or supervised by the Ottoman
Ministry of Evqaf, and those which are independent of
Government control. Of the endowments formerly under
the control of the Ministry there are two classes :

(i) Mazhuta waqfs, or waqfs administered and controlled
directly by officials of the Ministry of Evqaf ;

(ii) Mulhaqa waqfs, or waqfs which were under the general
supervision of the Ministry, but were not under their direct
administration. This class of foundation is a family settle-
ment corresponding in general with an English trust.

Under the Turkish regime the administration of the
waqfs of the Sanjaq of Jerusalem (the Qazas of Jerusalem,
Jaffa, Gaza and Beersheba) was in charge of a Mudir
(Director) posted in Jerusalem ; in the Sanjaqs of Nablus
(the Qazas of Nablus, Jenin and Beisan) and Acre (Haifa,
Acre, Nazareth, Tiberias and Safed) it was under a Mudir
at Beirut, with Mamurs (assistants) stationed at Acre and
Nablus. On the occupation of Southern Palestine by the
British troops a Waqf Committee was formed in Jerusalem,
and was afterwards made the directing authority for all
Waqfs in Palestine and styled ' The General Waqf Com-
mittee.' The Committee was charged with the administra-
tion of and the preparation of the estimates for all Mazbuta
waqfs ; and with the supervision of Mulhaqa waqfs. The
estimates were approved by the Chief Administrator, and
the accounts subjected to Government audit.

By the High Commissioner's Order of the 20th December,
1 92 1, referred to above, all waqfs are placed under the control
of the Supreme Moslem Sharia Council, which has autono-
mous powers conferred upon it. The estimates and accounts
are forwarded to the Government for its information only.

The chief source of revenue of Moslem endowments is the
tithe. Tithe was dedicated as waqf hy the Sultans or, with
their permission, by feudal chiefs, from the earliest times
of the Islamic conquests. It forms 55 per cent, of the
revenue of the Moslem religious endowments in Palestine,
and the waqf tithe is approximately 12.75 per cent.

ISLAM IN PALESTINE 39

of the total tithe revenue of the country. The revenue
department collects the waqf share of the dedicated
tithes, handing over the proceeds to the Supreme Moslem
Council. For the financial year ended 31st March, 192 1,
the collections on behalf of Moslem endowments amounted
to LE.27,649 ; and for the financial year 1921-22 have
considerably exceeded this sum owing to the restitu-
tion of the Khasqi Sultan Waqf by the Government
to the Waqf authorities. This famous waqf, which
was founded by the mother of Sultan Suleyman the
Magnificent in 1547, was seized by Ibrahim Pasha when he
occupied Palestine and Syria in 1831 (see Part I., § 6) and
was retained by the Ottoman Government when it resumed
control of the country in 1841. The return of its revenue,
which amounts to c. LE. 10,400 per annum, to the objects
of dedication has demonstrated the impartiality of the
present Administration, and has favourably influenced
Moslem opinion throughout Palestine.

One of the oldest Mulhaqa waqfs in Palestine is the
Tamimi waqf at Hebron. This waqf, it is claimed, was
dedicated to the Tamimi family by the Prophet Mohammed
himself. Another important (tithe) waqf, also connected
with Hebron, is one attached to the Mosque of Abraham
mentioned above. Its average annual revenue amounts
to LE. 15,000.

The waqf receipts for the financial year 1921-22 are
estimated at LE.43,297, the expenditure being fixed at the
same sum. The tithes of Mulhaqa waqfs are excluded from
the above calculations, the Mutawalis (Trustees) undertak-
ing their direct collection. They amount approximately to
LE.8,ooo.

§ 6. The Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

History. — The Bishopric of Jerusalem, out of which the
Patriarchate subsequently arose, counted its bishops from
S. James the Less, the ' Brother of the Lord,' and was
in Apostolic times the centre of the Jewish Christian

40 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

community. When, after the destruction of Jerusalem in
70 A.D., Caesarea became the civil capital of Palestine, the
Church followed the Government, and the Bishop of ^Elia
Capitolina became only a local bishop under the Metropoli-
tan of Caesarea. Nevertheless, his peculiar position as bishop
of the most sacred city of Christendom was recognized by
the Council of Nicaea with the grant of ' the succession of
honour ' ; and at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 the see
was raised to the dignity of a Patriarchate, the other Patri-
archates being Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria and
Antioch. At the conquest of Jerusalem in 637 by the Khalif
'Omar, Sophronius was Patriarch. Sophronius begged to
be allowed to surrender the city to the Khalif in person.
'Omar agreed, travelled with one single attendant to
Jerusalem, promised the Christians the possession of their
churches and freedom of worship on the usual condition—
a poll-tax — and then entered the city side by side with the
Patriarch, discussing its antiquities.' ^

On the division between East and West the Patriarch
of Jerusalem, as one of the four remaining Patriarchs,
became one of the four Heads of the Holy Orthodox Eastern
Church. The Crusades caused the Orthodox Church to give
way before the Latin, and for many centuries thereafter the
Patriarchs were content to reside in Constantinople, whence
they only returned to Jerusalem in 1867 .under Cyril H.
In 1672, however, was held the important Synod of Jeru-
salem, which made the last notable official pronounce-
ment of the Orthodox Church in matters of faith.

Present condition. — The British civil administration of
Palestine found, on its assumption of office, the Patriarchate
of Jerusalem in a state of tribulation, partly owing to
financial difficulties caused by the cessation of financial
supplies from Russia, partly owing to a deadlock which had
arisen between the Patriarch Damianos and his Synod.
The Government accordingly appointed a Commission,
consisting of Sir Anton Bertram, Chief Justice of Ceylon,
and Mr. H. C. Luke, Assistant Governor of Jerusalem, to

' Fortescue, The Orthodcx Eastern Church.

THE ORTHODOX PATRIARCHATE 41

inquire into and if possible find a solution for these diffi-
culties. The Commissioners, whose report was published
by the Oxford University Press in 1921, found in favour
of the Patriarch on the constitutional issue.

The Patriarch, whose jurisdiction is practically co-
extensive with Palestine and Trans-jordania, and whose
flock consists of 40,000 to 80,000 Orthodox, almost wholly
Arabic-speaking, is assisted in his duties by a number of
titular bishops, who bear the title of Metropolitan or
Archbishop. These prelates have no real diocesan juris-
diction, their function being either to represent the Patriarch
in the Districts or to assist in the ecclesiastical ceremonies
in Jerusalem. The titular sees thus held at present
(1922) are the following : — Metropolitans : Ptolemais,
Nazareth ; Archbishops : Lydda, Mount Tabor, Gaza,
Kyriacoupolis, Philadelphia, Neapolis, the Jordan,
Sebasteia, Tiberias, Diocaesarea, Hierapolis, Madaba,
Pella, Eleutheropolis.

The Patriarchs since the beginning of the last century
have been : Anthimos, 1788- 1807 ; Polycarp, 1808- 1827 ;
Athanasios IV., 1827-1845 ; Cyril II., 1845-1872 ; Pro-
copios, 1872-1877 ; Hierotheos, 1879-1882 ; Nikodemos,
1882-1889 ; Gerasimos, 1890-1897 ; Damianos, 1897-.

For the history of this Patriarchate, see the Report of
Bertram and Luke above referred to ; Fortescue's Orthodox
Church ; Archdeacon Dowling, The Patriarchate of Jeru-
salem, London, 1908; and Papadopoulos, 'lo-ro/aia t?]^
'EKKA?^trtas 'le/jocroAv/xwi', Jerusalem, 1910.

§ 7. The Latin Church in Palestine.

Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. — The Roman Catholic
Church was officially established in Palestine on the capture
of Jerusalem in 1099 during the First Crusade, the first
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem being Daimbert, Archbishop
of Pisa. For the ensuing two centuries the history of the
Patriarchate is largely that of the Latin Kingdom of Jeru-
salem ; on the capture of the city by Saladin in 1187 the

42 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

Patriarchs established themselves in Acre ; and, when that
fortress fell in 1291, the Patriarchate ceased effectively to
exist, although ten more de jure occupants of the see,
including one Englishman, Antony Beake, Bishop of
Durham (Patriarch, 1305-1311), were appointed. The
dignity of Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem then became a
purely titular one, accorded to prelates of the Roman
Curia, and so remained until the de facto revival of the see
in 1847.

Custodia of Terra Santa. — During the five and a half
centuries in which the Patriarchate was in abeyance the
Latin Holy Places in Palestine were in the charge of the
Franciscan Order under the ' Most Reverend Father
Custodian of Terra Santa,' who was and is the Superior of
the Franciscan establishments in Palestine, Syria, Egypt,
and Cyprus. The Father Custodian during this period had
quasi-episcopal jurisdiction, could administer confirmation
and the minor Orders, conferred the Latin Order of the
Holy Sepulchre on behalf of its Grand Master, the Pope,
and had the right to maintain a merchant marine flying
the flag of Terra Santa (argent a cross potent between four
crosses crosslet gules).

Revival of the Patriarchate. — In 1847 Pope Pius IX.
re-established the Patriarchate as a resident see, and the
Patriarchs resumed these special rights from the Custodia.
The Latin Patriarchs of Jerusalem are now Lieutenants of
the Grand Master of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, in
whose name they are entitled to bestow the Order.

The Patriarchs since 1847 have been : Giuseppe Valerga,
1847-1872 ; Vincenzo Bracco, 1873-1889 ; Ludovico Piavi,
1889-1905 ; Filippo Camassei, K.B.E. (afterwards Cardinal),
1906-1919 ; Luigi Barlassina, 1920-.

The Custodia To-day. — The Fathers Custodians are
appointed for a period of six years by the General of the
Franciscan Order and are always of Italian nationality.
They are assisted by a French Vicar, a Spanish Procurator,
and a Council of Four composed of an Englishman, a
Frenchman, an Italian and a Spaniard. Much valuable

THE LATIN CHURCH 43

historical material in the possession of the Custodia has been
since 1906 in course of publication by Fr. G. Golubovich,
O.F.M., under the title of Biblioteca Bio-Bibliografica della
Terra Santa e dell' Oriente Franciscano.

Beligious Orders. — In addition to the Franciscans, many
Roman Catholic religious Orders are represented in
Palestine. Among these are the Discalced Carmelites, who
take their name from the parent house on Mt. Carmel ; the
Dominicans, with their admirable library and Biblical
School in the Convent of S. Stephen, Jerusalem ; the
Benedictines, Salesians, White Fathers, Lazarists, Passion-
ists and Assumptionists. Among the Orders for women
are the Franciscans, Benedictines, Carmelites, Clarisses,
Dames de Sion, Sceurs Reparatrices, Soeurs de S. Vincent
de Paul, and others.

§ 8. The Uniate Churches.

The Uniate Churches (Eastern Churches acknowledging
the general supremacy of the Pope, but preserving in a
greater or lesser degree their own liturgies and customs)
represented in Palestine are the following : Melchites,
Maronites, Armenian Uniates, Nestorian Uniates or Chal-
daeans, Jacobite Uniates or Syrians and Abyssinian Uniates.
These churches are represented in Palestine by very small
flocks, principally resident in Jerusalem.

The most considerable of these communities as regards
Palestine is that of the Melchites, who have a seminary
connected with the Church of S. Anne in Jerusalem,
governed since 1878 by the White Fathers. The Melchite
Patriarch of Antioch, Alexandria and Jerusalem (Mgr.
Kadi) generally lives in Damascus ; a Melchite Archbishop
of Galilee resides at Haifa.

The Armenian Uniates possess a handsome cathedral in
Jerusalem (Our Lady of the Spasm), and are under a Vicar-
General ; from 1855 to 1867 there was an Armenian Uniate
Archbishop of Jerusalem.

44 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

§ 9. The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

From early times there has been a Bishop of the Armenian
(Gregorian) Church in Jerusalem, where the Armenians have
a community of some hundreds and enjoy the ownership
or part-ownership of several of the Holy Places. Their
Cathedral of S. James the Less, together with a vast Patri-
archate, schools, chapels, and gardens, occupies most of the
south-west corner of the old city. In the seventh century,
according to some authorities, the Armenian Bishops of
Jerusalem obtained the title of Patriarch ; and there is
record of the Patriarch Zacharias being taken prisoner by
Chosroes. In 1006 the Patriarch was Arsen ; in 131 1, Sarkis
(Sergius). The jurisdiction of the Armenian Patriarch of
Jerusalem extends over the Gregorian Armenians in Pales-
tine, Cyprus, and parts of Syria. In September, 1921, His
Beatitude Yeghiche Turian, ex-Patriarch of Constantinople,
was elected Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem, after the
throne had been vacant for eleven years, and was enthroned
on the 7th November following after receiving the formal
approval of the King to his appointment. This was the first
occasion on which a British Sovereign officially approved
the election of an Eastern Patriarch.

§ 10. Jacobites, Copts and Ahyssinians.

The Jacobite Bishopric of Jerusalem. — The Jacobites
take their name from Jacob Baradai, who built up a Mono-
physite Church in Syria in the sixth century. They are in
communion with the Copts. Their rite is a Syriac form of
the ancient rite of Antioch, with the liturgy attributed to
S. James the Less. We first hear of a Jacobite Bishop of
Jerusalem at the end of the sixth century (Severus), and
from 11 40 onwards the succession is regularly maintained.
For centuries the office of Bishop of Jerusalem was combined
with that of ' Mafrian,' .who was the principal auxiliary of
the Jacobite Patriarch of Antioch. The present Jacobite

JACOBITES, COPTS, ABYSSINIANS 45

Bishop of Jerusalem is the Right Rev. Awanis Ehas, con-
secrated in 1896. He is assisted by a Suffragan, and his
residence is the convent built around the traditional house
of S. Mark in Jerusalem.

The Copts. — The first Coptic Metropolitan of Jerusalem
was appointed in the middle of the thirteenth century, since
when there has been a regular succession, although at
present the Metropolitan spends most of his time in Egypt,
being represented in Palestine during his absences by a
Vicar-General. The episcopal residence adjoins the eastern
end of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and there is a
large Coptic Convent at Jaffa, principally intended for the
accommodation of Coptic pilgrims from Egypt.

The Abyssinians. — The Abyssinians have preserved, in
the heart of Africa and surrounded by Moslem and pagan
peoples, the Christianity, to which they were converted in
the fourth century. They are Monophysites and in com-
munion with the Copts, from whom they receive their chief
Bishop {Abuna). The Abyssinians, in common with the
other Christian episcopal churches, are represented in
Jerusalem, where they have several convents, including
one situated on the roof of S. Helena's Chapel in the Holy
Sepulchre.

§ II. The Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem.

The History of the Bishopric. — The Jerusalem Bishopric
is the oldest of the twenty-one dioceses throughout the
world which do not come within any ecclesiastical province,
but are directly under the metropolitical jurisdiction of
the Archbishop of Canterbury. Indeed, the ' Jerusalem
Bishopric Act,' passed in 1841 to sanction the consecration
(in England) of Bishops for places outside the British
Dominions, was used not only for the first consecration of
an Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem, but under its provisions
all other such Bishops have since been consecrated, the King
giving his Mandate to the Archbishop of Canterbury in each
case,

46 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

The aims and procedure of the founders of the original
Bishopric in 1841 are not without interest.

The failure of several attempts on the part of Lutheran
Germany to secure episcopal orders through Rome led
King Frederick William IV. of Prussia to approach England
with the purpose of founding a Bishopric in Jerusalem in
the hope of attaining that object, and in 184 1 it was founded.
Its income was provided by ;^6oo a year, the interest of an
endowment fund raised in England, and a further ;^6oo, the
interest of a capital sum set aside from the privy purse of
the King of Prussia. The nomination to the See thus
provided for was alternately with England and Prussia ;
the Archbishop of Canterbury nominating for England to
the Crown, and having the right of veto on the Prussian
nomination.

The Bishopric, as then founded, was unpopular with many
churchmen on account of its connexion with a non-episcopal
communion, and from their failure to appreciate the dif-
ference between episcopal jurisdiction as exercised in the
West, where it is territorial, and in the East, where several
Bishops rule in the same area, each over members of their
own communion. This led to the unfounded fear that there
was an intrusion on the rights of the Orthodox Patriarch as
Bishop of Jerusalem.

A further failure to obtain episcopal orders for the
Lutherans resulted in the withdrawal of Prussia from
the contract (together with the portion of income
guaranteed by the King) on the death of Bishop Barclay |
in 1 88 1, when the Bishopric fell into abeyance for nearly
six years.

After considerable inquiry and much careful thought
Archbishop Benson revived the See as an Anglican
Bishopric ; and Dr. Blyth, then Archdeacon of Rangoon,
was consecrated Bishop of the Church of England in Jeru-
salem on the 25th March, 1887, the Orthodox Patriarch of
Jerusalem having said that it was ' necessary that a Bishop
of the Church of England . . . should be placed in this Holy
City.' Ever since that date the Anglican Bishopric has

THE ANGLICAN DIOCESE 47

been growing more and more part of the religious life of the
city, until it now holds a position which is unique in oppor-
tunity for promoting a good understanding among its many
Churches.

The Aims of the Bishopric. — The aims of the Bishopric
may be summed up as follows :

"To represent the Anglican Church as worthily as possible
amongst the other Churches represented in the Holy City ;
to cultivate relations of friendship and sympathy with the
ancient Churches of the East, always remembering the
Redeemer's prayer, ' that they all may be one ' ; to provide
churches and chaplains for Anglican communities within
the diocese ; and to present the Christian Faith in its
fulness to non-Christians and to commend the Faith by
two special means, the training and education of the young
and the healing of the sick."

The Bishop's Mission, known as the 'Jerusalem and the
East Mission,' is taking a prominent part in the education
of young Palestinians, both by means of its own schools
and by joint action with other societies in carrying on the
English College for young men and the British High School
for Girls in Jerusalem.

Jurisdiction of the Bishopric. — The Bishop's jurisdiction
extends over the congregations and interests of the Anglican
Church in Palestine and Syria, in part of Asia Minor and in
the Island of Cyprus. Until the end of 1920 it also included
Egypt and the Sudan, but those countries were then formed
into a separate, independent diocese under the Bishop of
Khartum. In addition to the Cathedral Church of S.
George the Martyr in Jerusalem, built by the late Bishop
Blyth, there are other churches and British or Palestinian
clergy and congregations in Jerusalem, Gaza, Jaffa, Ramleh,
Bethlehem, al-Salt (Trans-jordania), Ramallah, Nablus,
Haifa and Nazareth, besides various other places in the
country districts and also in Cyprus and Syria. Much of
the work is carried on by the Church Missionary Society
and the London Society for Promoting Christianity amongst
the Jews.

48 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

List of the Anglican Bishops. — Michael Solomon Alex-
ander, 1841-1845 ; Samuel Gobat, 1846-1879 ; Joseph
Barclay, 1 879-1 881 ; George Francis Popham Blyth, 1887-
1914 ; Rennie Maclnnes, 1914-.

The English Order of S. John of Jerusalem — This Order
is represented in Palestine by an admirable ophthalmic
hospital overlooking the Valley of Hinnom in Jerusalem.
The Order has fitted up the Chapel of S. John of Jerusalem
in S. George's Cathedral, in Jerusalem, and enjoys, through
the courtesy of the Orthodox Patriarch, the privilege of
celebrating services in the crypt of the Orthodox Church
of S. John the Baptist in the old city.

§ 12. The ' American Colony.'

A characteristic community of Jerusalem is that known
as the ' American Colony.* This community was estab-
lished in Jerusalem in 1881 by a lawyer of Chicago, Horatio
Spafford, and his wife, and at that time consisted of 14
adults. Its membership is now 90, drawn from 10 different
nationalities, among which citizens of the United States
and Swedes preponderate. The aims of the colony are
religious, and are based on non-dogmatic Christianity. The
colony, which is financially self-supporting, performs useful
charitable and educational work by maintaining an orphan-
age and an industrial school.

§ 13. The German Templar Community.

The name of this community, which has no connexion «
with the Knights Templar, is derived from Ephesians ii., 21.
The Templars originated in the middle of the nineteenth
century in the Kingdom of WUrttemberg under the leader-
ship of the brothers William and Christopher Hoffman.
The Templars considered their task to be, in the first place,
to erect the ideal Christian community in the ' land of
promise,' and thence to regenerate the social and religious

GERMAN TEMPLAR COMMUNITY 49

life of Europe. They reject the ordinary dogmas of Chris-
tianity and base their rehgious theories largely on Old
Testament prophecies. Their first colony was founded at
Haifa in 1868, the second immediately afterwards in Jaffa;
and they also have colonies in Jerusalem, Sarona and
Wilhelma (near Jaffa), and Beit-Lahm, near Nazareth.
They are excellent agriculturists.

§ 14. The Jews.

Judaism in Palestine after 70 a.d. — The destruction of
Jerusalem and the Temple at the hands of the Romans in
70 A.D. marked the material ruin of the Jewish nation in
Palestine. But it survived spiritually. The Jews no
longer had a national territory to govern ; nevertheless they
still had a great national literature to preserve, to expound
and to propagate. Rabbi Johannan ben Zakkai founded
at Jabneh a new Jewish centre where the hakhamim (the
' learned ') toiled to collect their spiritual possessions, to
tabulate and correlate the religious Law {Tor ah), both that
which was written and that which was traditional. These
hakhamim organized themselves into what was an academic
imitation of the Sanhedrin, but they naturally had no
power beyond that with which the piety of their co-
religionists chose to invest them.

The collapse of the rebellion under Bar Cochba (135 a.d.)
and the persecuting edicts of Septimus Severus caused the
remnant of the Jews in Judaea to seek a fresh home. A
large proportion settled in Galilee, and there, for some two
centuries, the rabbinic Sanhedrin under its Nasi (' Prince ')
and Ah beth din {' Father of the Law Court ') carried out its
functions. Its home changed from*time to time : we hear
of it first at Usha, then at Sepphoris, and finally at Tiberias.
Its labours are preserved to us in the Mishna (a codifica-
tion, roughly according to subject-matter, of the legal
prescriptions of the Pentateuch, together with much
discussion over debatable points, interpretations and
corollaries), the Palestinian Talmud (an explanation of the

L.P. D

5D THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

Mishna and a mass of more or less relevant additional™!
matter), and kindred literary output. The compilers of
the earlier period are known as the Tannaim ; those of the
later, Amor aim.

With the Christianization of the Roman Empire and the
increase in numbers and power of the Christians in Palestine
after Constantine the Great (312-337 a.d.), Palestinian
Judaism weakened and almost disappeared, and its spiritual
centre shifted to Babylonia, where it long continued to
flourish. Theodosius abolished the ' Sanhedrin ' (425 a.d.),
and Palestine became a Christian country. Tiberias, how-
ever, still continued for some centuries to be a centre of
Hebrew learning, and it was here, in the ninth century, that
the system of vocalization now in use in Hebrew Bibles
received its final shape.

Throughout the Middle Ages the Jewish population in
Palestine remained a negligible quantity. Benjamin of
Tudela visited the country in 11 70-1 and found only about
1440 Jews. Moses ben Nahman Girondi in 1267 reports
the existence of only two Jewish families in Jerusalem,
engaged as dyers ; as a result of Moses ben Nahman's
efforts one of the old synagogues in Jerusalem was rebuilt,
more families settled in the town, a Rabbinical College was
set up and Jewish students began to resort to Jerusalem
from neighbouring countries. Apart from Jerusalem,
Jewish centres developed in Safed, Acre, Ramleh and
Sarafend.

During the following century the condition of the Jews
greatly improved, both numerically and economically, and
at the beginning of the fifteenth century the immigration
of Jews from Germany is first reported ; these founded a
settlement in JerusaleA, which was afterwards destroyed
by the native Jews.

It was the expulsion of the Jews from Spain (^492) and
Portugal (1495) which first created a ' ^Return ' on a con-
siderable and effective scale. Many of the refugees were
men of wealth, and more were men of learning. Little more
than a generation saw the Jewish community in Palestine

THE JEWS 51

some ten thousand in number, with the influence and
leadership in the hands of Sephardim, as the Jews from
Spain were called. A strong rival to Jerusalem quickly
grew up in the north Galilean town of Safed. The Jews of
Spain had brought with them that mystical method of thought
and Biblical interpretation known as Kabhdld, and in
Safed Kabbalistic literature was studied and its professors
acquired fame throughout the whole of Jewry. It may be
noted that it was here, in 1563, that the first printing press
was set up in Palestine, by the brothers Abraham and
Isaac Ashkenazi.

With the addition of Palestine to the Turkish Empire by
Selim I., in 15 17, the Holy Land became more accessible to
all the Jews of the East, and large numbers of other Sephar-
dim, who had previously found a refuge in North Africa and
Egypt, settled in Jerusalem. Throughout the subsequent
half century the conditions remained good, with occasional
changes for the worse consequent on the whims of individual
governors.

The Kabbalistic movement at Safed was closely wrapped
up with the idea of the speedy coming of Messiah and the
redemption of the Jewish race. The latter half of the
sixteenth century saw the development of 'Ascetic Kabbala'
(Kabbdld ma'asith), the adaptation of ideas derived from
the earlier ' Speculative Kabbala ' {Kabbdld 'lyyunith) to a
rigorous life of penitential discipline : the more intense
the asceticism, the sooner would come the Redeemer. The
leader of this movement was Isaac Luria, and the publishing
of his teachings by his pupil Hayyim Vital gave them a
widespread influence throughout the entire Diaspora and
created the atmosphere favourable to the False Messiahs
who, from time to time, appeared during the following
century, culminating in the sensational career of Shabbatai
Zevi (Jerusalem, 1663 a.d.).

One other event, only, need be recorded as of paramount
importance in the Jewish life of Palestine. Consequent on
earthquakes, famines and persecutions, the economic
position of the Jews in the Holy Land had become pre-

52 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

carious. Thereupon, in 1601, the leaders of the Jewish
congregations in Venice came to their aid with ' A Fund
for the Support of the Inhabitants of the Holy Land.' The
same course was followed by the Jews in Poland, Bohemia
and Germany. This was the origin of the Halukka system,
which only in the last few years has ceased to be a prime
factor in the economic life of the Palestinian Jews. This
Halukka {' division,' ' dole ') was a scanty financial subsidy
distributed amongst the Jews of the Holy Land to support
them while they led a life of study and prayer on behalf of ._
their fellow- Jews of the Dispersion. ll

Recent Jewish Immigration. — In 1839 the Jews of
Palestine were reported to number about 12,000. In 1880
they were estimated at 35,000, in 1900 at 70,000 ; and at
the outbreak of the war at about 85,000. It was about
1880 that Jewish immigration was resumed on an appreci-J
able scale, and since this period most of the Jewish!
immigrants have been Ashkenazim from Central and|
Eastern Europe. The Balfour Declaration has, of course,
given a considerable impetus to further Jewish immigration
from all parts of the Jewish Diaspora.

In addition to the Ashkenazim and Sephardim there are
in Palestine, and particularly in Jerusalem, other Jewish
communities, attracted to the country by its sacred
associations. One of the most interesting of these is the
colony of so-called Bokhara Jews in Jerusalem, consisting
of picturesquely clad Jews from the Khanates of Bokhara
and Khiva, and from Samarkand in Russian Turkestan.
These people speak Hebrew or Persian Yiddish, and write
in a peculiar and handsome variety of Hebrew cursive'
script ; they claim to be the descendants of Jews who
emigrated from Babylon to Persia and thence to Central
Asia, where they have been established since the time of
Timur-lenk.

Another element deserving of mention is the colony of
Yemenite Jews, who speak both Hebrew and Arabic, and
have been cut off from the rest of the world since the rise
of Islam in the seventh century of our era. They are q.

THE JEWS 53

remnant of those large Jewish nomadic or semi-nomadic
communities, many of them autonomous, which existed
throughout Arabia in the time of Mohammed. They have
maintained themselves absolutely distinct and orthodox in
religion in the Yemen for many centuries, and have acted
as metal workers, craftsmen and carpenters for their Arab
rulers. In the course of the last twenty years or so a
number of these people have been returning to Palestine,
which now numbers about 4,000 Yemenite Jews.

In the village of al-Bukeia (Pekiin) in the sub-district of
Acre is a small community of Arabized Jews, indistinguish-
able from their Arab neighbours except by their religion,
and claiming a continuous history of many centuries in that
place.

The survival in Jerusalem should be chronicled of an
infinitesimal number of Qaraites, whose headquarters at
present are in the Crimea. The Qaraites separated from
the main body of Jews in the eighth century a.d., and re-
ject the Talmud. The small mediaeval semi-underground
synagogue of the Qaraites in the old city of Jerusalem is
not without interest.

Languages. — While the usual language of the Ashkenazim
is Yiddish or ' jargon ' (a foundation of Middle High German,
to which are added a few common Hebrew words, and then
a multitude of foreign words according to the taste and
linguistic surroundings of the speaker), and that of the
Sephardim either Arabic or, more usually, that mixture of
fifteenth century Castilian and Hebrew known as Judaeo-
Spanish or Ladino, the use of Hebrew as a spoken and
written secular language has made enormous strides in
recent years, largely owing to the impetus which the Zionist
movement has given to its revival. ' The Hebrew
Language,' to quote the High Commissioner's Interim
Report on Palestine for 1920-21, ' which, except for pur-
poses of ritual, had been dead for many centuries, was
revived as a vernacular. A new vocabulary to meet the
needs of modern life was welded into it. Hebrew is now
the language spoken by almost all the younger generation

54 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

of Jews in Palestine and by a large proportion of their
elders. The Jewish newspapers are published in it. It is
the language of instruction in the schools and colleges, the
language used for sermons in the synagogues, for political
speeches and for scientific lectures.'

Organization. — When the British civil administration
was set up in Palestine, the Jewish community in the
country possessed no recognized ecclesiastical organization.
In 1 92 1, on the invitation of the Government, the Jews of
Palestine established an elective Rabbinical Council, which
embodies a lay element and is under the presidency of two
joint Chief Rabbis (Abraham ha-Kohen Kuk and Jacob
Meir), the one representing the Ashkenazim, the other
the Sephardim.

The Jewish community of Palestine is organized for lay
purposes both centrally and locally. There is a represen-
tative Jewish Council {Va'ad L'ummi, National Council)
which is elected by adult Jews of all communities throughout
the country. The method of election is by adult suffrage,
but women have not the right to be elected as members of
the Council. The original assembly was elected in the
autumn of 1920 and appointed an executive committee,
which deals with the Government, in respect of internal
matters of the Jewish community.

In each principal town where there is a considerable
Jewish population there is a committee {Va'ad ha-'Ir),
which represents the local community before the local
Government authorities, and which is recognized as the
representative body in matters concerning the Jewish
population. The Va'ad ha'-Ir is elected, usually by male
suffrage. Committees of this kind exist in Jerusalem, Jaffa,
Haifa, Tiberias, Safed and Hebron. They have been
given the right to impose a fee on the unleavened bread,
which is baked for the Passover Feast ; and a scheme is
being prepared by which they will obtain the right to
charge other fees for services affecting the Jewish popula-
tion. In all Jewish villages there is a committee {Va'ad
ha-Mcshabhah), which is elected, usually by adult suffrage.

THE JEWISH COLONIES 55

and which is concerned with the general management of
the colony, and with the provision of common services,
such as water and lighting, the school and the synagogue,
the reading room and the club.

§ 15, The Jewish Colonies.

The Jewish agricultural colonies have grown up in the
course of the last forty years and show a level of agri-
cultural and scientific development far in advance of any-
thing else of the kind in Palestine. They established
themselves in many cases on uncultivated and unpromising
land and have transformed it into extensively cultivated
and remunerative plantations. They drained swamps,
planted eucalyptus and pines, cultivated the vine, and
greatly developed the orange trade of Jaffa.

There are at present 61 of these colonies, large and small,
with a population of about 17,000. The colonies are
grouped in four districts as follows : —

In Judaea there are 21, viz. Mikveh-Israel, Rishon le
Zion, Ber-Jacob, Ness-Zionah, Rehoboth, Ekron, Gederah,
Ber-Tobia, Ruhama, Petach-Tikvah, Ain-Ganim, Kfar-
Mlal (ain-Hai), Kfar-Saba, Ben-Shemen, Hulda, Kfar
Urieh, Artuf, Mozah, Kiryath Anavim (Dilb), Kalandiah
and Nahlath-Yehudah. In Samaria there are lo, viz.
Hederah, Hefzi-bah, Kerkur, Gan-Shmuel, Zicron-Yacob,
Marah, Shveyah, Bath-Shlomon, Giveath-Binyamin (Shuni)
and Athlit. In Lower Galilee there are 20, viz. Nahalul,
M rhaviah, Balfouria, Ein-Harod, Giveath-Yeheskiel, Tel
Yossef, Sedshera, Kfar-Tabor (McvSha), Yabneel (Yemma),
Beth-Gan, Rama (Sarona), Poriah, Mizpah, Kinereth,
Daganiah, Hittin, Migdal, Tel-Adas, Bethaniah and Mena-
hamiah. In Upper Galilee there are 10, viz. Rosh-Pinah,
Pekiin, Ayeleth-Hashachar, Mahnaim, Mishmar-Hayarden,
Yessod Hamaalah, Ein-Zeitim, Kfar-Gileady, Tel-Hai and
Metullah. Most of the colonies are provided with schools,
synagogue, library, town hall, hospital, pharmacy and
public baths. Of the above-mentioned the following

56 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

settlements belong to the Jewish National Fund, which was
established by the Zionist Organization for the purpose of
acquiring lands to remain the national property of the
Jewish people : Ben-Shemen, Hulda, Kfar-Mlal, Kiryath,
Anavim (Dilb), Nahlath- Yehuda, Nahalul, Merhaviah,
Ein-Harod, Giveath Yeheskiel, Tel-Yossef, Kinereth,
Dagania and Hittin. The Palestine Land Development
Company, a Society similarly organized by the Zionist
Organization, possesses the lands of Tel Adas, Kalandiah,
some lands on the Carmel, at Jaffa, Jerusalem, etc. The
other colonies were mostly founded by Baron Edmond de
Rothschild and by the Jewish Colonization Association.
This Association administers all the properties of Baron de
Rothschild. The total area of the Jewish settlements is
590,020 donums or about 147,505 acres. There are 35,481
donums (about 8,870 acres) of plantations, and among
them : 14,777 donums (about 3,695 acres) vineyards,
33,825 donums (about 8,456 acres) almond groves, 13,322
donums (about 3,330 acres) olive plantations, 12,456 donums
(about 3,114 acres) orange groves, and 4,566 donums (about
1,141 acres) eucalyptus plantations. There are two
agricultural schools, at Mikweh-Israel and Petach-Tikvah
respectively. The Zionist Organization hopes soon to
resume the work at the Jewish Agricultural Experiment
Stations at Athlit and Zichron Jacob, which has been
suspended since 1918.^

§ 16. The Samaritans.

The Samaritans are one of the most interesting religious
and racial survivals in the world. They are the only
distinct representatives of ancient Israel in Palestine, and
they still cling in Nablus, although reduced to a very small
community, to their ancient beliefs and practices and to
their sacrifices on Mount Gerizim. Of the Old Testament
they accept only the Pentateuch, which they preserve in

»See A. M. Hyamson, Palestine: The Rebirth of an Ancient People, London,
1917.

THE SAMARITANS 57

an ancient Aramaic version [Tar gum). They keep the
Sabbath very strictly, but do not use phylacteries, fringes,
or the written ' inscriptions on the lintel ' [mezuzoth) . Their
language is a dialect of Palestinian. Aramaic, and their
writing is an archaic alphabet derived from the Old Hebrew.
For the ordinary purposes of everyday life, however, they
use the Arabic language. Their present High Priest is
Isaac the son of Amram, who succeeded his cousin Jacob
in 1914. The Samaritan community consisted in 1922 of
132 persons in Nablus, J3 in Tulkeram, and 12 in Jaffa.
The distinctive feature of the Samaritan dress is a red silk
turban wound round the fez.

For general information on the Samaritans, see J. A.
Montgomery, The Samaritans, Philadelphia, 1907. For
their Liturgy, see A. E. Cowley, The Samaritan Liturgy,
Oxford, 1909.

§ 17. Druses and Metawileh.

The Druses. — The Druses, of whom 7,000 inhabit Palestine,
principally Galilee and Phoenicia, are both a race and a
religion. Their original home is the Lebanon, over which,
for centuries, they disputed authority with the Maronites.
After the events of i860, however, the Druses migrated in
large numbers to the Jebel Hauran, which now contains a
greater Druse population than the Lebanon itself.

The Druse faith is secret not only to the world at large,
but to the majority of the Druse themselves, who are
divided into initiated {'uqal, ' intelligent ') and uninitiated
[juhal, ' ignorant '). It is a chaotic mixture of Islam,
Christianity, and yet older elements, and it regards both
the Gospel and the Quran as inspired books, although it
gives to them a peculiar interpretation. The word ' Druse '
is commonly derived from one Isma'il Darazi, the first
missionary to the Druses ; though others derive it from the
Arabic darasa (those who read the book), or darisa (those
in possession of Truth) or durs (the clever or initiated). The
Druses believe in the divinity of the mad Fatimite Khalif

58 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

Hakim (996-1020), whose apostle was the above-mentioned
Darazi. Their meeting-place is known as the khahveh.

The Metawileh. — The name ' Metawileh ' is believed to
mean ' Friends,' i.e. Fjriends of 'Ali. The community traces
its origin to a Companion of the Prophet, Abu Darr Ghifari,
who is supposed to have first taught his doctrines in the
villages of Sarafend and Meis. Others regard the Meta-
wileh as immigrants from Persia who entered Syria and
Palestine during one of the Persian invasions. Their
religion is a form of the Shiah division of Islam, and they
still maintain contact with the shrine of Kerbela. Most of
the Metawileh dwell in Syria, where, in the eighteenth
century, they were a powerful political force ; there are
only about 160 in Palestine, partly in Galilee, partly in
Acre.

§ 18. The B aha' is.

In 1844 a Persian, Mirza 'Ali Mohammed, proclaimed
himself in Tabriz as the 'Bab,' or Gate, whereby communica-
tion was to be re-established with the ' hidden ' or Twelfth
Im&m, or Mahdi, whose return to earth is awaited by a large
number of Shiah Moslems. Later he stated that he himself
was the expected Imam, but his ministry was cut short by
martyrdom in Tabriz in 1850. Before his death he
appointed as his successor a lad named Mirza Yahya,
called Suhh-i-Ezel (' the Dawn of Eternity '), who, with his
half-brother Mirza Husein 'Ali, afterwards better known as
Baha'u'llah, and other Babi leaders, took refuge in Baghdad
in consequence of the persecution to which the sect was
subjected by the Shah. After they had spent twelve years
in Baghdad the Persian Government persuaded the Porte to
have them removed, and they were taken to Adrianople,
where they remained from 1864 to 1868. In a.h. 1283
(a.d. 1866-67) occurred an event which rent the sect in
twain. Baha'u'llah, who was of more assertive character
than the retiring Subh-i-Ezel, suddenly announced that he
himself was the expected Im§,m, and that the ' Bab ' had

THE BAHA'IS 59

been no more than his fore-runner ; and he called upon all
Babis, including Suhh-i-Ezel, to acknowledge him. This
the latter refused to do, and Babis were now divided between
Ezelis, who acknowledged the original Bab and his suc-
cessor Subh-i-Ezel, and Baha'is. or followers of Baha'u'Uah.
Meanwhile both sections were again deported by the Turks,
Suhh-i-Ezel and his family to Famagusta in Cyprus, Baha-
'u'Uah and his followers to Acre. From Acre the Baha'i
faith has spread over Asia and America and into Europe,
and counts two millions of adherents ; the Ezelis have
dwindled to a handful.

Baha'u'Uah died on the i6th May, 1892, leaving, among
other children, two sons, 'Abbas Effendi and Mirza Moham-
med 'Ali, who for a while disputed the succession. Ultimately
there prevailed the claims of the elder, 'Abbas Effendi,
who took the spiritual title of 'Abdu'l Baha, meaning ' The
Servant of the Glorious.' 'Abdu'l Baha was born in Teheran
on the 23rd May, 1844, the day of the Declaration of the
Bab, and died at Acre on the 27th November, 1921. His
successor is his grandson, Shawki Effendi, who is Life-
President of the Council of Nine, which regulates the affairs
of the community. The number of Baha'is in Palestine
is 158. Sir 'Abbas Effendi 'Abdu'l Baha had travelled
extensively in Europe and America to expound his
doctrines, and on the 4th December, 1919, was created by
King George V. a K.B.E. for valuable services rendered
to the British Government in the early days of the Occupa-
tion. For farther information on Babism and Baha'ism
the reader is referred to the works of Professor E.G. Browne,
published by the Cambridge University Press.

PART III.

PLACES OF INTEREST.

§ I. Archaeology and Art in Palestine.

Introductory. — The records of the great Egyptian con-
queror Thothmes III. (c. 1479 B.C.) and the famous Tel
al-Amarna letters addressed to the heretic king Amen-
hotep IV. (c. 1375 B.C.) give us some idea of Canaanite
civilization in Palestine. Unfortunately its treasures, if
they exist unspoiled, lie for the most part under the tels
(artificial hills), which mark the sites of the ancient cities
of this period.

Thus, as he passes northwards along the Philistine plain,
the traveller will notice the lofty mound on which the
present town of Gaza is built, and the similar but sand-
covered mass of ancient Ashdod, which lies to the west of
the present village of Esdud and \ mile south of the railway
station.

In the plain of Acre (north of the railway) can be seen a
number of such unidentified sites ; and in the adjoining
plain of Esdraelon a series of them, including the famous
cities of Megiddo, Ta'anach and Bethshan, guard the passes
southwards over the foothills of Carmel and the steep
descent into the Jordan valley.

Thus, while the Israelite towns, with one or two excep-
tions, have left little or no trace of their existence on the
bare rocks of the mountains, the earlier sites in the lowlands

ARCHAEOLOGY AND ART IN PALESTINE 6i

have better survived the lapse of centuries, and afford us
to-day the fullest, and almost the only evidence for the
ancient history of Canaan.

Excavations so far carried out in Palestine, notably at
Tel al-Hesy (Lachish), Tel al-Jezer (Gezer), Ain Shems
(Beth Shemesh), Ascalon (Askalon) and Tel al-Mutesellim
(Megiddo), have established a chronological framework for
these earlier periods on evidence largely derived from the
development of the pottery types and their decoration in
successive ages.

These periods may be tabulated as follows :

Palaeolithic. The instruments, which are confined in their
distribution to the hill-country, are mostly of the
" Chellean " type, though other forms are occasion-
ally found.

Neolithic. The date and distribution of this age are un-
certain. Its instruments are coarse and, with its rude
hand-made pottery, shade into the following period.

Early Bronze [c. 2000-1700 B.C.). Vases are wheel-made but
still coarse in type.

Late Bronze {c. 1700-1200 b.c). This period shows strong
Cypriote and Mycenaean (Mediterranean) influences
at work.

Early Iron (1200-600 B.C.). New types, due to Philistine
and Israelite invasion, are predominant. Egyptian
scarabs and amulets are very common.

Hellenistic (600-100 b.c). Attic vases are useful as dating
factors. Both black-figured (600-450 b.c.) and red-
figured (450-200 B.C.) are found in the more important
sites.

Roman and Byzantine (100 B.C.-636 a.d.). Lamps, glass, etc.

Dolmen groups are to be found at the north-west end of
the Sea of Galilee, but are of no special interest except to
the archaeologist. Of greater importance are the five mega-
lithic monuments called the Caves of the Children of Israel
(Kabur Beni Isra'in), which lie close to the village of
Hizmeh, a few miles north of Jerusalem, Their origin and

62 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

purpose are unknown, but they are most probably con-
nected with the burial of the dead.

Old Testament Period. — The earlier archaeological monu-
ments in Palestine are cisterns and pools for the collection
of rain-water, oil and wine presses, and rock tombs {kokim).
Hebrew architecture is derived partly from that of the
Phoenicians, who borrowed their types from Egyptian and
Babylonian sources, partly from the Hittites. David's
palace and Solomon's temple were works of Phoenician
architecture, whose peculiarity lay in the fact that its
fundamental source was not the column but the sculptured
rock. Hence the plan of the structure was apt to be sub-
servient to its material ; hence, also, was probably due the
use in building of enormous blocks of stone, such as are to
be seen in the Herodian walls of Jerusalem and Hebron.
The excavations which have taken place in Palestine reveal
a standard of material civilization throughout the period
covered by Old Testament history, which is low when
compared with the standard of the sublime literature to
which that period gave birth.

Greek and Roman Periods. — Research has not yet given
us a consecutive chronological account of the monuments,
or the remains of monuments, that have survived. They
may, however, be said to include the rock tombs to be seen
in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, Beit Jibrin and else-
where. A rock tomb may have a much more ancient origin
than its surface decoration would suggest. Some of those
at Beit Jibrin contain decorations of the Roman period,
though the excavated caves themselves may be much earlier.
Similarly the tomb of Absalom and the Pyramid of Zacharias
in the Kidron Valley to the west of Jerusalem may be works
of a more remote age than is suggested by the Egyptian
and Graeco-Roman character of their surface treatment.

Herod the Great did much to spread the influence of
Roman architecture ; and, subsequently, the civilization
and arts of Rome were extended by the emperors to the
most remote districts of Palestine beyond Jordan and
Arabia Felix.

ARCHAEOLOGY AND ART IN PALESTINE 63

Roman sites in Palestine, unlike those in Trans-jordania,
have been continuously occupied. Successive occupants
destroyed the buildings upon them and used the materials
for their own purposes. It is probable that there was no
period more destructive of Roman buildings than that of
the Crusades. At Caesarea the Crusaders built their walls
from stones taken from the Roman walls and used Roman
columns as bonding stones. Gaza and Ascalon were treated
in much the same way, and nothing now is left above
ground level of these Roman cities. At Caesarea fragments
of Roman masonry may still be seen on the seashore.
Samaria (now called Sebastieh) was an important Roman
city. Excavations have revealed the remains of a basilica.
The monolithic columns, the capitals of Corinthian design
and the details of the pedestals seem to show that the
building may date from Herod the Great. The remains of
a great temple built by Herod in memory of the Emperor
Augustus may also be seen, together with the grand stairway
which led up to it. Ascalon has for centuries been used as
a quarry. Nothing remains above ground level, but ex-
cavations have disclosed what remains of Herod's cloister.
Of Roman Gaza practically no trace is visible above ground
level.

Mention may be made of the remains of Jewish syna-
gogues in Galilee. At Capernaum ^ there is an interesting
example. This building of the second or third century
would seem to illustrate an imperfectly informed but in-
teresting attempt at interpreting, by Jewish workers, the
details of Roman architecture.

Christian Architecture in Palestine. — As an ample litera-
ture exists on the periods enumerated above, it has been
thought sufficient to deal with them somewhat summarily
in this Handbook. The Christian and Moslem architecture
of Palestine, on the other hand, have hitherto received so
little attention that rather fuller treatment here has been
thought desirable.

At the beginning of the reign of Constantine the glorious

J See Fr. Mejstermann, O.F.M., Capharnaum et Bethsaide, Paris, 1921,

64 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

biblical names of Zion and Jerusalem had been largely
forgotten ; and Aelia Capitolina, with its colonnades, with
its Forum surrounded by temples and municipal monu-
ments, with its Capitol and its camp of legionaries, differed
nowise from other Roman provincial cities, whose sole
ambition it was to emulate the metropolis.

When Constantine made Christianity the State religion
of the Empire, he determined that Jerusalem should give
in its buildings striking evidence of the change.

The sites of Calvary and of the Holy Sepulchre had not
disappeared by the beginning of the fourth century ; and
for more than ten years from 325 a.d. onwards Constantine
lavished the skill of his builders and much treasure on
giving to these sites a worthy covering. It was his aim
to surpass the most ambitious architectural monuments of
previous ages ; and, from the vestiges which contemporary
archaeology has been able to recover, the realization fell
not far short of his ambition.

The impressive group known as the " Holy Sepulchre,"
consisting of a collection of separate edifices within a single
enclosure, evoked universal enthusiasm and attempts at
imitation throughout Christendom. It marked, however,
no striking departure from the principles and details of
classical architecture. The rotunda of the Holy Sepulchre
was derived from the Pantheon, itself modelled on the
mausoleums of the Hellenistic age ; the basilica of the
Martyrium was purely Roman ; the porticos differed only
in their additional decoration from the porticos and
peristyles to be met with throughout Aelia Capitolina or
any other Romanized city. At the same time, Christian
symbolism, ritual requirements and liturgical developments
began to effect certain adaptations in purely classical
art.

The internal troubles of the Empire after the death of
Constantine for a time diminished building activity in the
Holy Places ; and during this period only the Church of
the Caenaculum was added (towards 345) to the original
trilogy of Holy Sepulchre, Mt. of Olives and Bethlehem,

ARCHAEOLOGY AND ART IN PALESTINE 65

Before the end, however, of the fourth century the strong
hand of Theodosius had imposed peace ; and building
activities were resumed. The ruins of Gethsemane, whose
earhest basiUca dates from this period, indicate that Chris-
tian architecture had already become to a certain extent
emancipated from classical traditions : the rigid propor-
tions of the classical basilica have undergone modification,
and ornamental sculpture has assumed a new form. This
emancipation proceeded farther during the first quarter of
the fifth century, when the generosity of the great Roman
ladies, such as Paula and the two Melanias, who had estab-
lished themselves in Jerusalem, gave a fresh impetus to
religious 'building. The interesting octagonal Church of the
Ascension, of this period, introduced into Jerusalem a type
of building as yet little known in the Christian world.

A particularly fruitful epoch for Jerusalem was inaugu-
rated by the exiled Empress Eudocia, wife of Theodosius II.
A zealous builder and possessed of an ardent devotion to
the Holy Places, Eudocia was responsible for a large number
of new constructions. Apart from churches of modified
basilican type, such as the Martyrium of S. Stephen,
and the Church of the Paralytic built over the Piscina
Probatica, there begin to appear new types of buildings,
such as the domed church over the Pool of Siloam, and,
above all, the tri-apsidal church which survives to-day
almost unchanged in the crypt of the Church of S. John the
Baptist [cf. Part II., § 11). This church appears to be the
earliest known dated example of a form in architecture
subsequently introduced by Justinian in the Constantinian
basilica at Bethlehem.

The curious domed edifices inside the Double Gate of the
Haram enclosure, and the remarkable Golden Gate, also
date in all probability from the time of Eudocia. Assisted
by the development of monasticism and the donations of
the Christian world to the Holy Places, the impetus given
by the Empress to Christian architecture in Palestine
endured until, in the first half of the sixth century, Justinian
gave to it a new life and made of Jerusalem the dyia ttoA^^

66 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

of the Madaba mosaic. Then came a period of Persian
invasions and Imperial decay, followed in 637 by the
conquest of Jerusalem by 'Omar. Notwithstanding the
tolerance of the earlier Khalifs, Moslem rule inevitably
arrested the development of Christian religious art ; and
such gifts as the Holy Places now received came rather
from the West, through the liberality of Charlemagne, than
from the Byzantine East. The first Western note is struck
by certain monastic foundations, in particular by those
which afforded hospital treatment for pilgrims. The fanati-
cism of the mad Khalif Hakim in the first years of the
eleventh century led to the almost complete destruction of
Christian religious buildings ; and the efforts of the Emperor
Constantine Monomachus could barely cope with the vast-
ness of the ruin. The exhausted Eastern Empire could
only attempt a hasty restoration of the Holy Sepulchre ;
while a few hospitals were constructed by merchants of
Amalfi. The situation was reversed by the liberation of
the Holy Places at the hands of the Crusaders in 1099.

The character of the artistic renascence of Jerusalem in the
twelfth century and during the lifetime of the Latin King-
dom has often been misunderstood. Because it coincided
with the Byzantine renascence under the Comneni, because
a judicious adaptation of local conditions introduced certain
technical formulae and certain innovations in the art of the
West, because the co-operation of Greek craftsmen has been
definitely established, it has been thought that Palestine,
and Jerusalem in particular, were a fruitful school in which
Prankish architects acquired the knowledge which made
possible the full development of their art. The study of
the surviving monuments indicates that such was not the
case. The technical structural detail and the decoration
of the principal buildings of the Crusading period indicate
that they are products of Romanesque art, similar to the
buildings which arose throughout the West after the first
half of the eleventh century.

The remarkable castles with which the Crusaders en-
dowed Palestine and Syria are alluded to in Part I., § 5.

ARCHAEOLOGY AND ART IN PALESTINE 67

These gesta dei per francos have been fittingly studied by
French scholars ; and the works of de Vogiie, Riant, Rey,
and the more recent studies of PP. Vincent and Abel, O.P.,
are indispensable for the student of this period.

Moslem Architecture in Palestine. — That Palestine is
rich in examples of Moslem architecture is not surprising.
That it is not very much richer is because the country has
suffered from many wars and many inroads of destructive
barbarians. The natural constitution of Palestine and the
building aptitudes of its inhabitants favour the productior^
of noble works of architecture ; but the situation of the
country on the high road between continents has always
endangered their permanence. Hence periods of great
prosperity are followed by and are sharply contrasted with
periods of great disaster. But newcomers, if they chose,
could always profit by the building skill and building
traditions of the population, and were able to use materials
from the ruined works of former generations.

At the time of the Arab conquest in the seventh century
A.D. there were in Palestine many workers skilled in all the
building crafts. There was also a wealth of already wrought
material ; and, moreover, of material that was available
for use without having recourse to the destruction of build-
ings then standing. In the year 636 a.d. the Arabs cap-
tured all the cities of Palestine from Gaza to Nablus. In
the following year Jerusalem capitulated {cf. Part I., § 4).
Twenty-two years earlier the country had been invaded and
a large proportion of its buildings had been destroyed by
the Persians. The land, when the Arabs arrived, was doubt-
less still covered by the ruins caused by that invasion.
Dismantled walls of wrought stone, fallen columns, slabs of
marble and other remains of ruined Byzantine or earlier
structures were plentiful, and provided a supply of excep-
tionally fine materials that could only be exhausted by many
years of intense building activity. The Arabs were not
barbarians, nor was architecture an art altogether strange
to them. They were a people of great taste and liberality
as well as of not a little political sagacity. They fully

68 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

ined f |

appreciated the pleasure as well as the profit to be gained*
from splendid architecture ; and when, fifty years after the
conquest, the fifth Omayyad Khalif, 'Abd al-Melek ibn „
Marwan, founded the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, he «
took every advantage of his ample opportunity. He used
the traditional skill of the workers established in the country,
and he employed the unsurpassed building materials that
lay ready. The traditions of the workers were, of course,
Byzantine ; and the famous domed shrine that they erected
was consequently Byzantine in character. This character
the shrine has, to a large extent, retained even to the present
day, notwithstanding the many changes in method or style of
architectural expression that have developed during the long
life of the Dome of the Rock, and have, from time to time,
been incorporated with the structure or with its decoration. J
The columns used by 'Abd al-Melek were taken from earlier |
buildings or, rather, from their ruins ; some, possibly, from
the ruins of Constantine's basilica of the Holy Sepulchre,
which the Persians had destroyed. Internally the enclosing
octagon wall was covered, as it still is, with marble slabs
in the Byzantine manner. The dome, the drum on which
it rests and the supporting arches were decorated with glass
mosaics of Byzantine character. Mosaics also covered the^
outside of the building, except the lower half of the octagon
wall, which then, as now, was clothed in marble. Within
the shrine the mosaic method of decoration has survived in
the main, with the important exception of the dome. But
externally a decoration of glazed tiles has taken the place
of the mosaics. Thus, though inside there is much left of
the original Byzantine character, yet, outside, the Dome
of the Rock is now clothed in a Persian dress, the product of
an art of high antiquity that can be traced back to four
hundred years before our era and to the coloured glazes of
Susa. Earthquakes, fire, winter storms, hands of varying
degrees of skill directed by minds as varied in their taste
as in their intentions, together with periods of neglect due
to political conditions, have all played their part in the
production of the Dome of the Rock as we know it to-day.

ARCHAEOLOGY AND ART IN PALESTINE 69

The shrine as it now stands constitutes a most precious and
remarkable record of history and of human effort. In it is
to be found the handiwork not only of many generations
of men but also of many races ; of Greeks and Armenians,
of Arabs, Persians and Turks, and even of Franks.

The present purpose is not, however, to describe but to
direct attention. Those who desire a fuller knovv^ledge will
refer to the many already published descriptions of this
famous shrine, and, above all, will examine the shrine
itself.

There are in Palestine no other monuments of the Omay-
yad period ; for, though the Mosque of al-Aqsa was founded
by 'Abd al-Melek ibn Marwan, yet it has been so altered
as to bear but little relationship to the mosque he built.
Nor are there in Palestine any architectural remains to
reflect the splendid days of the earlier 'Abbasid Khalifs.
Towards the end of the ninth century these Khalifs ceased
to possess any real power in Palestine. The power passed
successively to the Tulunid, Ikhshidid and Fatimite dynas-
ties of Egypt. Nothing is left of their works. To the
inroads of the Karmathians in the tenth century, of the
savage Turkomans towards the end of the eleventh century
and to the Crusades is no doubt largely due the destruction
of the Tulunid, Ikhshidid and Fatimite work. It is not
until after the Battle of Hattin in 1187 {cf. Part I., § 5),
the capture by Saladin of Jerusalem from the Crusaders
and the loss by the Crusaders of all the hill-country and
the Jordan valley, that we again find examples of Moslem
architecture. In respect of Moslem architecture in Pales-
tine there is, then, a blank period of five hundred years
between the Dome of the Rock (687 a.d.) and the next
Moslem architectural work that has survived in Palestine
(1187).

Saladin 's first task was to undo much that the Crusaders
had done. The Dome of the Rock, which they had turned
into a church, he restored to its former use. He did the
same for the Aqsa Mosque. The existing mihrah (prayer
niche) of that mosque is his work. An inscription above

70 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

the niche records his thanks for victory. The beautiful
pulpit, dated 564 a.h. (1164 a.d.), that stands near the
mihrab was brought by Saladin from Aleppo. It is an
extremely fine example of twelfth century Moslem wood-
work.

Saladin, in general, readapted all buildings of Moslem
origin to their original purposes and adapted Christian
buildings to Moslem needs. For example, he turned the
palace of the Latin Patriarchs in Jerusalem into a' great
khanqa (hostel), whose entrance, built by him, still stands ;
he converted the Church of S. Anne into a school for the
teaching of Shafi doctrine. He also repaired the walls of
Jerusalem. Although these walls have since been dis-
mantled, largely rebuilt or repaired, yet they still contain
much of his work.

The three centuries, the thirteenth, fourteenth and fif-
teenth, which followed Saladin 's capture of Jerusalem were
distinguished by great building activity. Despite the
neglect from which they suffered in Turkish times, many
noble specimens of Moslem architecture produced during
the three centuries preceding the Ottoman conquest remain
to us. Most of these monuments are to be found in Jeru-
salem. To the early thirteenth century belong the ruins of
a great madrasa (Moslem seminary) built in 1209 a.d. by
Melek Mu'azzam al-Tsa to the north of the Haram al-Sherif .
To the same period appears to belong the gateway of the
Haram known as the Bab al-Hitta. Into the lower part of
this gateway a fine Frank altar or tomb has been built. In
the street from the Bab al-'Atm (one of the northern doors
of the Haram) to the Tariq Sitti Maryam (Via Dolorosa) is
one of the finest examples of Moslem architecture in Pales-
tine. This is the madrasa al-Salamieh. This school dates
from 1300 A.D. It has a stalactite entrance of exquisite
design and workmanship. The masonry of the whole build-
ing is most finely dressed and perfectly jointed. It is
deeply to be regretted that this magnificent building is
completely neglected and is falling into ruin. Among the
hostels built in the thirteenth century "are the great Mansuri

ARCHAEOLOGY AND ART IN PALESTINE 71

hostel (1282) in the Tariq Bab al-Nazir, used as a prison
by the Turks and now as a khan for Moslems from the
Sudan ; the hostel of Ali al-Din (1267) near the Bab al-
Hadid, and the Rabat al-Kurd (1290), situated opposite the
splendid fa9ade of the Arghunieh madrasa outside the Bab
al-Hadid.

Just as 'Abd al-Melek ibn Marwan in the seventh century
both profited by the skill of the craftsmen he found in the
country and employed materials from earlier buildings, so
also did the Bahrite Mamelukes of Egypt, who ruled in
Palestine from 1250 to 1390 a.d., not only benefit by the
existence of the large body of practised craftsmen which
the country clearly possessed while under Frank rule, but
also used, when it proved convenient to do so, materials
from Christian buildings for incorporation in their own
works. Hence we find, in some of the Mameluke buildings,
many stones that their own masons had neither quarried
nor dressed, stones that they took from Frank structures.
The bridge at Ludd (Lydda) built by the conqueror of
S. Louis, the Mameluke Sultan Bibars {cf. Part I., § 6),
bearing his emblem, the lion, appears to be largely con-
structed of materials worked by Christian masons or at
least by masons trained in Frank methods. The Mame-
lukes much admired the Frank buildings. They themselves
were great builders, and they were sometimes tempted to
destroy a building they admired (but perhaps had no use
for as it stood) in order to make use of the parts they liked
best or could most conveniently adapt for their own pur-
poses. After Bibars had captured and destroyed Jaffa, he
sent the wood and the marble of the buildings to Cairo for
the construction of his mosque there ; Sultan Mohammed
al-Nasr ibn Qala'un similarly treated a doorway of the
Cathedral of Acre ; and in the porch of the great Mosque
of Sultan Hasan in Cairo are to be seen most interesting
fragments of carved Gothic work, evidently looted from
some Frank building in Palestine. The stones composing
the arches of the porch to the shrine of Abu Huraira at
Yebna are of Frank origin. An inscription records the

72 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

building of this porch by Bibars. The minaret of the
mosque at Yebna, the tomb known as the Kebekieh in the
Mamilla Cemetery outside Jerusalem, and the north-west
minaret of the Haram al-Sherif in Jerusalem are among the
many Moslem buildings in which Frank materials are found.
One of the capitals that adorn the north-east minaret
referred to is carved with a representation of the Presenta-
tion of Jesus in the Temple. The Frank shrine from which
it, with its column, came was not destroyed. Evidently
some only of the columns and capitals were needed. The
rest of the shrine was spared and still stands.

Among the other notable buildings of the Bahrite Mame-
lukes the following must be mentioned. At Ramleh there
is a tower which was the minaret and is the only part left
standing of a great mosque. It dates from the first quarter
of the fourteenth century, and illustrates very well the
conditions of that time : on the north and west sides of
the Haram al-Sherif are, amongst others, the madrasas
known as the Khatunieh (1354), the Asardieh (1359), the
Manjaqieh (1360), and the Malikieh ; all these are fine
examples, though sadly neglected, of the work of their
time. In the Tariq Bab al-Silsileh are the madrasa al-
Taziya (1329), the madrasa Tashtamurieh (1382) and, near
the Bab al-Silsileh, the madrasa al-Tanqizieh (1329), with
a very fine entrance porch. In the Tariq Bab al-Hadid,
just outside the Haram, is the madrasa Arghunieh (1357).
This college contains the tomb of its founder. Of this tomb
the dome has lately fallen through neglect. In general the
whole of this exceptionally fine but deserted college is in
urgent need of attention.

The Burjite Mamelukes of Egypt, who succeeded the
Bahrites, ruled Palestine from 1390 to 15 16. Among the
works of that time may be mentioned the great palace of
the Lady Tonsoq al-Muzaffar. This palace is in the street
known as Aqabet al-Sitt. The fa9ade of this magnificent
building stretches up the side of most of this street. Oppo-
site the palace is the lady's tomb. The palace is certainly
one of the most remarkable Moslem buildings in Jerusalem.

ARCHAEOLOGY AND ART IN PALESTINE 73

How mucli is left of its interior is not accurately known,
but it is to be feared that a good deal has fallen to ruin.
On the west side of the Haram al-Sherif is the great Ash-
rafieh madrasa, the upper part of which is unfortunately in
ruins. Its splendid fan-vaulted entrance porch still stands.
This madrasa was built in 1480 by the Sultan Kait Bai,
whose fine tomb in Cairo is so well known to every visitor.

The many hostels and colleges built in Jerusalem during
the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth centuries show that
in those centuries Jerusalem was a city affording oppor-
tunities for study to large numbers of people, who doubtless
came from all over the Moslem world to visit the holy sites
and to gain learning. Each of these colleges was endowed
with land, whose revenues went to their support. To dis-
cover the land allotted to the maintenance of each college
would provide an interesting study and might result in the
provision of the money needed for their repair and re-
establishment as seats of learning.

Soon after the opening of the sixteenth century the
Mamelukes fell before the power of the Ottoman Turks.
For a few years after the Ottoman conquest, energy con-
tinued to be spent upon building. The Dome of the Rock
was repaired and retiled ; the gates and walls were repaired
and rebuilt. The Damascus Gate in its upper part is of
this time (1537). A number of sebils (fountains) were con-
structed in the year 1536. But this energy was ephemeral.
A great period had come to an end. The Ottoman had
arrived. The world was changing. The Cape route to
India had been discovered, and those who held Egypt and
Syria could no longer grow rich on the dues extracted at
Alexandria and Alexandretta from merchants engaged in
trading in Far Eastern and Indian goods in transit for
European ports.

Of later date than the sixteenth century there is hardly
any building in Palestine worthy of note. But mention
may be made of the Mosque at Acre built by 'Abdallah
al-Jezzar in the eighteenth century. It is a *charming
domed building of the Turkish type and is set in delightful

74 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

surroundings. Another mosque worth referring to is the
Mosque of Hashim at Gaza, built or rebuilt in the nineteenth
century on the square open court plan.

§ 2. Department of Antiquities.

Constitution and Functions. — Upon the establishment
of the Civil Administration of Palestine, a Department of
Antiquities was formed under the control of the Director
of the British School of Archaeology, which had lately been
founded in Jerusalem. Shortly afterwards an Archaeo-
logical Advisory Board was constituted and an Antiquities
Ordinance promulgated.

The Advisory Board, an important feature of the con-
stitution of the Department, consists of representatives of
the several archaeological bodies working in Palestine
(British, French, American, Italian, Greek and Jewish)
under the chairmanship of the Director of Antiquities, and
deals with all archaeological questions of importance,
especially with those likely to involve opposing interests,
and more particularly with permits to excavate. The exist-
ence and authority of this board constitute a recognition of
the international character of archaeological work in the
Holy Land.

The Antiquities Ordinance, whose aim is the protection
of the antiquities of the country, is a comprehensive
document, based not only on the collective advice of
archaeological and legal experts, but also on the results
and experience of neighbouring countries. In due time it
is anticipated that it may be simplified and modified
in some particulars to bring it into line with the proposed
French Law of Antiquities for Syria.

Its underlying principles are, firstly, that the antiquities
and monuments of Palestine belong to the country and its
people ; secondly, that the Government shall facilitate in
every possible way the carrying out of excavations by
scientific • bodies of recognized standard irrespective of
nationality.

DEPARTMENT OF ANTIQUITIES 75

The term " antiquity " as defined by the Ordinance
inchides all monuments down to 1700 a.d.

Excavations. — The Palestine Exploration Fund, under
the direction of Professor Garstang, has opened an exten-
sive excavation at Ascalon which has yielded important
results.

The colonnade and cloisters, with which Herod the Great
endowed his birthplace, have been identified and partly
cleared, some interesting statuary has been brought to light,
and traces of Philistine and pre-Philistine occupation have
been traced in the acropolis.

At Gethsemane the Franciscans of Terra Santa have
excavated a basilica of the third or fourth century ; they
have also resumed excavation on the site of the synagogue
of Capernaum (Tel Hum), where efforts will be made to
rebuild a portion of the fallen masonry.

At Tiberias the Palestine Jewish Exploration Society has
been excavating ancient Jewish remains ; and at Ain Duk,
near Jericho, the Dominicans of the " Ecole Biblique " of
S. Stephen, Jerusalem, have completed the clearance of an
ancient synagogue, where, as a result of the war, portions
of a mosaic floor had been laid bare.

A magnificent Roman mosaic of about 300 a.d. was
unearthed in October, 192 1, at the village of Beit Jibrin
(Eleutheropolis) in the sub-district of Hebron, near which
are also situated the famous " painted tombs of Marissa "
of the second century B.C. {cf. § 5 below).

The University Museum of Pennsylvania began in 1921
at Beisan excavation work, which now assumes important
proportions. The site of Samaria has been provisionally
reserved for the University of Harvard, which organized
the original excavation there, and that of Megiddo for the
University of Chicago.

§ 3. The Palestine Museum.

The Palestine Museum is at present housed in the Depart-
ment of Antiquities, and consists largely of antiquities found

76 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

in the course of pre-war excavations at Gezer, Ain-Shems,
Tel al-Safi and elsewhere.

An important selection of vase-types has been presented,
for purposes of comparative study, by the Cyprus Museum
Committee. The gold jewellery exhibited is for the greater
part the gift of Miss Newton of Haifa. Mr. S. Raffaelli, who is
responsible for the arrangement of the coins, has deposited his
private collection in the Museum to supplement the series.
Wall Cases. — The wall cases contain groups of vases,
bronzes, etc., arranged in chronological order :

Case A (left and right sections). Primitive Culture and
" Red Slip " vases of c. 2000 b.c.

Below (right), selected specimens of early Bronze
Age vases from Cyprus.
Case B (left to right). Bronze Age vases from c. 1800-
1200 B.C.

1 . Group from High Place Grotto at Ain-Shems.

2. Group from East Grotto at Ain-Shems.

3. Tomb Group from Cyprus.

4. Selection of contemporary vases from Palestine.
Case C (left to right). Early Iron Age wares from 1200-

600 B.C.

1. Selection of painted " Philistine " pottery

2. Selection of contemporary vases from Cyprus.

3. Tomb group from Ain-Shems (No. i).

(The drawer contains the smaller finds from
this tomb.)

4. Tomb Group from Ain-Shems (No. 8).

(The drawer contains the smaller finds from
this tomb.)
Case D (left to right).

1. Vases of Hellenistic date (from 600 B.C.).

2. Selection of vases, lamps and glass of the Roman

and Byzantine periods (to 600 a.d.).

In the centre cases are exhibited scarabs, beads, gold,
jewellery, selected flint implements, terra cottas, bronzes,
glass, and coins.

THE PALESTINE MUSEUISI 77

Drawer cabinets, which support the show cases, are in-
tended to receive pottery fragments from all important
Palestinian sites arranged in stratigraphical layers. Those
of Ascalon and Ain-Shems are already in position.

Sculpture. — The sculpture includes :

(i) bust of a Roman lady (Princess ?) of the third century
A.D. (Gaza ?) ;

(2) statuette of Hermes (Gaza ?) ;

(3) torso of a kneeling female (Venus) of fine workman-

ship (Ascalon) ;

(4) statuette of a draped woman (Ascalon) .
Inscriptions in Greek, Latin, and Arabic are arranged in

the vestibule.

A sale-room attached to the Museum contains duplicate
specimens of glass and pottery derived from various excava-
tions.

The Museum is open daily, except on holidaj^s, from 9 a.m.
to I p.m.

Local Museums. — Local Museums have been opened at
Ascalon, Caesarea and Acre ; while a Jewish section of the
Government Museum is in course of formation in Jerusalem.
The formation of an Arab section is under consideration.

§ 4. Coins.

Early Jewish Period. — The range of the coins of this
period is from 141 to 40 B.C. They are as follows :

Thick silver shekels of the five years 141 to 136 b.c,
half-shekels, and the rare quarter-shekel of the fourth year
attributed by some scholars to Simon the Maccabee (141
B.C.), by others to the Jewish Revolt (66 to 70 a.d.) ; large
bronze coins with jug, palm-tree and lyre, with the legend
" Simon Nasi Israel " ; Maccabean bronze " Zion " coins
of the second, third and fourth year (140 to 137 b.c.) ; small
Asmonean bronze coins ending with the larger Mattathia-
Antigonus, the last Asmonean ruler (40 B.C.).

Herodian Period. — The Herodian coins include those of
Herod the Great (37 B.C.) and his sons, Antipas, Archelaus,

78 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

Philip, Agrippa I. and H. (42 a.d. to 95 a.d.). All of these
are bronze, and some are very rare.

Late Jewish Period. — The coins of Bar Cochba (122 or
132 A.D.) comprise the silver tetradrachm and denarius with
the inscription of Simon, Jerusalem and Eleazar ha*-Kohen,
and large bronzes with jug, palm-tree and lyre, and the same
legend. These are dated

(i) Leheruth Yerushalayim - - 122 or 132 a.d.

(2) Shnat Achath Geulath Israel - 123 or 133 a.d.

(3) Shnat Bet Lachar Israel - - 124 or 134 a.d.
Some are very rare.

Greek and Roman Period. — The coins of this period
include :

(i) Small bronze coins of the Roman Procurators struck
at Caesarea, beginning with Caponius (6 a.d.) or,
as some think, Ambivius (9 a.d.), and ending with
Antonius Felix (52-60 a.d.) ;

(2) " Judaea Capta " bronze coins struck by Vespasian,

Titus, and Domitian to commemorate the conquest
of Judaea ;

(3) " Aelia Capitolina " bronze coins struck with the name

" Aelia Capitolina," the new city built by Hadrian
on the site of Jerusalem. These begin with that
Emperor (125 a.d. or 135 a'd.) and end with
Hostilian (251-2 a.d.) ;

(4) Imperial and Colonial bronze and silver coins struck

in Palestinian cities, and bearing the busts and
names of the Emperors, the City Goddess, and the
names of the Cities.

Coins of the following cities have been found :
Anthedon, Antipatris, Ascalon, Bostra (Araba),
Caesarea, Diospolis (Lydda), Eleutheropolis (Beit
Jibrin), Gaza, Gadara, Gerasa, Hippos, Joppa,
Nicopolis-Emmaus, Neapolis (Nablus, Shechem),
Nysa-Scythopolis, Philadelphia (Amman), Panias,
Philippopolis, Ptolemais (Acre), Sepphoris-Dio-
caesarea, Sebaste, and Tiberias.

COINS 79

Byzantine Period. — A large number of gold, silver and
bronze coins of the Byzantine period were largely circulated
in Palestine, but none were struck in the country.

Arab Period. — The Arabian conquerors of Syria and
Palestine struck their coins in the first decades of the Hejra
after the Byzantine model, with Greek and Arabic legends.
After the famous reform of the coinage by 'Abd al-Melek
(77 A.H., 696 A.D.), the legends became entirely Arabic and
contained the Mohammedan confession of faith, but the
coins still kept their Byzantine standard-weight. The
principal coin was the gold dinar (from denarius), of 4-25
grammes weight. The silver dirhem (from SpaxM) "^^^
struck on the Sassanian type, and was of 2-97 grammes
weight. The copper /(?/s (from the Latin /o//is) , which was
not considered as a standard coin, varied in weight according
to the district.

The chief mints in Palestine were : Acre, Ascalon,
Caesarea, Gaza, Jerusalem, Ludd, Ramleh, Tiberias. Coins
are known of the Omayyad, 'Abbasid, Tulunid, Ikhshidid
and Fatimite dynasties.

Crusading Period. — The coinage of the Latin Kingdom
of Jerusalem is scanty if compared with that of the Kingdom
of Cyprus or even with the coinage of Tripoli and -Antioch.
The principal coins which have hitherto come to light are
deniers (gr. 0-9) and ohols {c. gr. 0-4) of billon. Coins are
known of the following reigns : Amaury I., Baldwin (pro-
bably) II. and III., Guy de Lusignan, Henry of Champagne
and John de Brienne. The most important mints were
Jerusalem, Acre and Tyre. Of the many feudatories of the
Kings of Jerusalem who had the right of coinage only the
Princes of Galilee, the Counts of Jaffa, and the Lords of
Sidon, Beirut, Tyre and Toron are so far known to have
exercised their privilege.

The coins referred to above were for the most part of
base metal and low value, intended for petty disbursements.
For more important payments the Crusaders adopted the
strange device of striking, at Acre and elsewhere, gold
bezants in imitation of the Fatimite dinars, and silver

8o THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

drachmae and half drachmae in imitation of the Ayubid
dirhems.

The earlier types of these curious coins imitate more or
less clumsily the Arabic inscriptions, which are frequently
full of errors and intermixed with crosses and occasional
Latin letters ; the later types bear Christian legends
correctly rendered in Arabic characters.

Bibliography. — For Jewish coins see F. de Saulcy,
Recherches sur la Numismatique Judaique, Paris, 1854, and
F. W. Madden, Coins of the Jews, London, 1903. The Greek
and Roman coins are described in de Saulcy, Numismatique
de la Terre Sainte, Paris, 1874, and G. F. Hill, Catalogue of
the Greek Coins of Palestine, London, 19 14. .The best work
on the Crusading coins is Schlumberger, Numismatique de
r Orient Latin, Paris, 1878-1882 (with bibliography).

§ 5. The Southern Province.

The Handbook of Palestine in no sense aims at taking th
place of a guide-book, and the space which it can give to
places of interest is necessarily limited. Its function in this
connexion must be to enumerate rather than to describe.
For a list of the several excellent guide-books to the Holy
Land the reader is referred to Part IV., § 5.

Route from Kantara to Gaza.^ — Kantara (Arabic for
" bridge ") marks the site of the ancient crossing of the
caravan route between the two lakes by which the patriarchs
and the Holy Family travelled from Canaan into Egypt.
One kilometre north of al-'Arish (155 kilometres from Kan-
tara) the railway line crosses the broad and shallow wadi
which was the " River of Egypt " of the Bible (Numbers,
xxxiv., 5 ; Isaiah, xxvii., 12). Al-'Arish, the ancient Rhino-
colura, and the Laris of early Christian times, was the
death-place of Baldwin I. of Jerusalem, and was taken by
Napoleon in 1799.

At Khan-Yunis (kilo. 211) is a mosque built by the

^See Bishop M'Innes's booklet, Notes on the Journey Kantara to Jerusalem, Nile
Mission Press, Cairo.

THE SOUTHERN PROVINCE 8i

Egyptian Sultan Barquq, and here Napoleon had a remark-
able escape from capture by Arabs.

Just beyond kilo. 202, 2^ kilos, beyond Rafa (Rephaim),
is the frontier between Palestine and Egypt.

Gaza. — Gaza was the southernmost of the five allied
cities (the others being Ascalon, Ashdod, Gath and Ekron)
of the " Pelishtim " or Philistines, the non-Semitic people
inhabiting the country of Peleshet, which was the name
given to the low-lying plain between Mt. Carmel and the
frontier of Egypt. Through the land of Peleshet lay the
only route practicable for armies between Egypt and Baby-
lonia ; and Gaza has been the scene in the course of history
of innumerable battles. Its affinities in antiquity were
generally with Egypt ; and although it is now the last
outpost of Palestine towards the south (and since 1922 the
capital of the Southern Province of Palestine), historically
it has rather been the sally-port of Egypt towards the
north.

Beside the main transit route from Egypt to Damascus,
three other routes reached the sea at Gaza. The first was
the frankincense route from Yemen through the Hejaz to
Petra, whence a branch ran to Gaza ; the second was the
sea route from the east, of which one branch led to Egypt
and another to Ezion-geber (Akaba), and thence by caravan
to Petra and Gaza ; the third connected Gaza by way of
Petra and Jauf with lower Mesopotamia. This was the
most direct route across northern Arabia, and, in as late
a period as the Roman Occupation, was thronged with
caravans. For Gaza the most important route was the
frankincense route. The demand for frankincense and
myrrh in ancient worship was immense and could only be
met in the one way ; when Alexander the Great took Gaza,
the booty of the city included vast stores of frankincense
in its warehouses. Gaza was then ., the largest city in
Palestine and Syria.

Gaza was famous under the Philistines for the worship
of the fish-divinities Dagon (Marnas) and Derketo (Atar-
gatis), who probably had Minoan affinities. The story of

L.P. F

82 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

Samson (Judges, xiii., 5^.) gives a graphic picture of the
perpetual and frequently successful struggle maintained by
the Philistines with the Israelites for the hegemony of
Palestine. Pharaoh gave Gaza to Solomon as his daughter's
dowry, and Moslem tradition makes Gaza Solomon's birth-
place.

Under the Romans Gaza was an important city with the
name of Minoa ; and although its traditional first Bishop
was the Philemon to whom S. Paul addressed the Epistle
of that name, paganism survived almost until the Arab
conquest. S. Jerome considered Marnas (Dagon) to be
the worst enemy of Christianity after the Egyptian god
Serapis^, and it was not until the beginning of the fifth
century that Bishop Porphyry of Gaza was able to secure
the destruction of his temple. The Empress Eudocia
caused a large cruciform church to be erected on the site,
but the pagan tradition lingered ; and for many years the
women of Gaza refused to step on the once holy marbles.
Again, when Justinian I. closed the pagan schools of Athens
in 529, he permitted those of Gaza to continue the teaching
of Neoplatonism.

In 634 Gaza was occupied by the Khalif 'Omar, and
became important to Moslems, partly because the Prophet's
great-grandfather Hashim (a direct ancestor in the male
line of the King of the Hejaz) is buried there, partly
because it is the birthplace of Ibn Idris al-Shafi, the founder
of the Shafi rite or school of Sunnite Islam {cf. Part II., § 5).

During the Crusades Gaza was hotly contested between
the Saracens and the Crusaders, but received a terrible blow
in 1244, when the Christians and Moslems, on this occasion
in alliance, were defeated by the Khwarizmians {cf. Part I.,
§ 5). Finally, it was the scene of two battles (26th-27th
March and i7th-2oth April, 191 7) between the British and
the Turks in the late war, and was very largely destroyed
by the Turks and by subsequent bombardments. It was
occupied by General AUenby on the 7th November, 19 17.

The principal surviving monuments of Gaza are the
ruined Orthodox church of S. Porphyry ; the great mosque

THE SOUTHERN PROVINCE 83

(Jami' al-Kebir), also originally a Christian church ; the
J ami' al-Sayid Hashim, containing the tomb of Hashim ;
and the sanctuary of Abu al-'Azm ("The Father of
Strength "), with the reputed tomb of Samson.

Ascalon. — Ascalon is best reached from the town of
Mejdel, which lies on the railway (kilo. 259). One of the
most important of the Philistine cities, a seat of the worship
of Derketo, and the birthplace of Herod the Great, Ascalon
has a long and varied history from the time of Joshua until
its final destruction by Bibars in 1270.

It is perhaps worthy of mention that onions were always
extensively cultivated at Ascalon, which, through its Latin
name Ascalonia and the Norman form Escallion, has given
the word shallot to the English language. ^

Excavations were undertaken at Ascalon by the Palestine
Exploration Fund in 1920-21. A large public building of
fine workmanship in good classical style was uncovered near
the crossing of the central routes in the area. It is identified
with the cloisters that Herod the Great is said to have set
up, and is connected with the Senate House, of apsidal plan
(as at Samaria) ; the whole was more than a hundred yards
in length, and was adorned with statuary and Corinthian
columns of considerable beauty. A museum of the anti-
quities is to be found on the spot, where there is also a
guard of the Department of Antiquities. The inscriptions
recording decisions of the Senate (or Boule) and the smaller
statues have been removed to the Museum in Jerusalem.
Other excavations were of a scientific character and the
results are not visible. The site as a whole repays a
thorough inspection. The circuit of the ramparts is about
two miles ; they form a semicircle facing the sea. Numerous
columns and capitals, remains of a Byzantine church.
Crusaders' buildings, and other antiquities are visible.

Tel al-Safi. — North-east of Mejdel, commanding the outlet
of the great Wadi al-Sant (Valley of Mimosa ; probably the
Valley of Elah of i Samuel, xvii., 2), stands Tel al-Safi,
which has been identified with the Philistine city of Gath.
Here stood the Crusaders' castle of Blanchegarde ; the

84 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

und l|]

excavations carried out by the Palestine Exploration Fund
revealed nothing of outstanding interest.

Esdud and Yebna. — Esdud (kilo. 272) is the ancient
Ashdod, one of the five cities of the Philistines, and the
Azotus of the New Testament (Acts, viii., 40). Fifteen
kilometres beyond Esdud is Yebna, the Jabneel and Jabneh
of the Old Testament, the Jamnia of the Maccabees, and
the Ibelin of the Crusaders. After the Roman capture of
Jerusalem in 70 a.d. Jabneh became an important Jewish
spiritual centre under Rabbi Johannan ben Zakkai {cf.
Part II., § 14). The principal mosque of the village was a
Crusaders' church.

Beersheba. — From Rafa a branch line (60 kilos.) of the
standard gauge railway runs to Beersheba (Bir al-Seba),
now a small town of about 1,760 inhabitants.

Beersheba was the southernmost town of the Israelites,
whence the expression " Dan to Beersheba " ; and its wells
played a prominent part in the history of the patriarchs
(Genesis, xxi.). In early Christian times Bishops of Beer-
sheba are occasionally mentioned, but by the fourteenth
century the town had lost all importance. Beersheba was
captured by the British on the 31st October, 1917, and it
was from Beersheba that was made the advance resulting
in the capture of Gaza.

Hebron. — Hebron, now a town of 16,332 inhabitants, is
one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.
Here Abraham pitched his tent, under the oak of Mamre
the Amorite, and, on the death of Sarah, purchased from
Ephron the Hittite the double cavern of Machpelah, where
he buried her, and was subsequently himself laid to rest,
together with Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob, Leah and Joseph.
The Arabic name of Hebron (" al-Khalil," which is an
abbreviation of Khalil al- Rahman, i.e. Abraham the
" Friend of God ") preserves its association with the
patriarch.

Hebron was destroyed by Joshua, and from Hebron
David ruled over Judaea for j\ years after the death of
Saul. Abner was slain by Joab at the gates of Hebron,

THE SOUTHERN PROVINCE 85

and by its pool the murderers of Ishbosheth were hanged
by David. Except for a small Jewish community Hebron
is a Moslem town, and, owing to its connexion with Abraham,
is a place of intense Moslem veneration. The town, with
its tall stone houses, narrow streets, and the picturesque
vaulted bazaars, which display the sheep-skin coats and
blown glass for which Hebron is renowned, is a remarkably
complete specimen of an Arab city. Characteristic, too,
are the figured veils worn by the Hebron women.

Hebron's great monument is the Haram,i the sacred area
which encloses and surmounts the Cave of Machpelah. The
outer wall of the Haram is built to a height of about 40 ft.
of very large drafted blocks, apparently of Herodian age,
strengthened externally by square buttresses. A flight of
steps leads between the old wall and a more recent enclosing
wall to the interior of the court ; to the left of the sixth
step, leading into the outer of the two caves, is a hole in
the old wall, by which petitions addressed to Sarah are still
thrown by childless women into the cave below. The
mosque itself, which occupies the southern side of the
Haram, has been adapted by the Arabs from a Crusaders'
church of the twelfth century. It stands over the cave ;
the entrance to the inner cave is sealed, but through a hole
in the floor of the mosque a boy is let down at infrequent
intervals into the outer cave to collect the petitions which
have been thrown in it.

The cenotaphs of Abraham and Sarah occupy two
octagonal chapels to the north of the church ; those of
Isaac and Rebecca are inside the church ; those of Jacob
and Leah in chambers at the north of the Haram. In a
separate enclosure is the cenotaph of Joseph, All are
covered with heavily embroidered palls, and the chapels
of Abraham and Sarah are particularly richly decorated.

Noteworthy is the pulpit of the mosque, a noble specimen
of twelfth-century Moslem wood carving similar to the
pulpit of the Aqsa mosque {cf. § i above).

' See Vincent and Mackay, Hebron : Le Haram El-Khalil, Sepulture des Patri-
arches, Leroux, Paris, 4to, 1922.

86 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

Beit Jibrin. — In the District of Hebron, west of Hebron
town, lies Beit Jibrin, alluded to in §§ i and 2 above.

On the adjacent Tel Sandahannah stood the Israelitish
town of Mareshah (the Greek Marissa), excavated by the
Palestine Exploration Fund. Of great interest are the
extensive rock caverns and tombs, many dating back to
the ancient Hebrew period. The finest tomb, of more
recent date, is that of Apollophanes (second century B.C.),
with gabled roofs — the only one of the kind hitherto found
in Palestine — and interesting wall pain tings. ^ For the
Roman mosaic recently unearthed at Beit Jibrin, cf. § 2
above.

Beit Jibrin was the Roman Eleutheropolis and the
Crusading Gibelin.

Tel al-Hesi. — South-west of Beit Jibrin lies Tel al-Hesi,
the ancient Lachish, excavated by Flinders Petrie and
others under the auspices of the Palestine Exploration
Fund. 2 These excavations laid the foundations of our
knowledge of Palestinian ceramics.

§ 6. Jerusalem and Jaffa Province.

Jaffa. — Jaffa, the port of Jerusalem and now a town of
about 45,000 inhabitants, is the ancient Japho, the Greek
Joppa and the Crusaders' Japhe.

In mythology Jaffa is the scene of the rescue by Perseus
of Andromeda from the sea-monster, whose fossilized bones
were long exhibited in proof of the story, together with the
chains with which Andromeda was fastened to the rocks by
the shore. It was also the place where Jonah was swallowed
by the whale (Jonah, i., 3).

The name of the city occurs on the pylon of Thothmes III.
at Karnak in a list of Syrian towns overthrown by Pharaoh
in the sixteenth century B.C. In the fifteenth century Jaffa
was a Phoenician city under Egyptian suzerainty, and then
became, and remained for about a thousand years, Philistine.

• See Peters and Thiersch, The Painted Tombs at Marissa, P.E.F., London, 1905.

* See Petrie, Lachish ; BHss, A Mound of many Cities, P.E.F., London.

JERUSALEM AND JAFFA PROVINCE 87

During this period the cedar logs for King Solomon's Temple
were landed here after being floated down from the Lebanese
ports by Hiram, King of Tyre. The Maccabees made of
Jaffa a typically Jewish town ; and, after its conquest by
Pompey, it became a Roman Free City. During the ensuing
century it was frequently bandied about between Rome and
the Idumaean princes, and at one moment was given by
Mark Antony as a love-token to Cleopatra. Christianity
was introduced at an early period into Jaffa, where, in the
house of Simon the Tanner, S. Peter saw the vision recorded
in Acts, ix., 43.

Under Byzantine, Seljuq and Fatimite rule the history
of Jaffa is comparatively uneventful, but with the advent
of the Crusaders it again becomes varied. King Baldwin I,
signed here the Treaty of Jaffa with the Genoese, the
foundation of many future conquests, and Jaffa was con-
stituted a county, the investiture of which was always
given to the heir to the throne of Jerusalem. In that year
of disaster to the Crusaders, 1187, the town was captured
and destroyed by the brother of Saladin, was subsequently
retaken by Richard Coeur-de-Lion, and was sacked by
Bibars in 1267. In 1799 it was stormed by Napoleon.

In spite of its age, Jaffa offers little of interest to the
visitor. The oldest part of the city clusters citadel-like on
a rocky hill overlooking the harbour, its streets narrow and
labyrinthine. At the southern end of the old city the site
of the house of Simon the Tanner is shown in an insignificant
little mosque, although the present tanners' quarter lies
farther south, on the shore below the Ajami quarter.

To the north of Jaffa lies the Jewish township of Tel Aviv,
much enlarged under the stimulus of recent Zionist develop-
ment, and offering, in its European modernity, a striking
contrast to the eastern character of Jaffa. Inland of Jaffa
lie the orange groves for which the place is famous ; for the
German Templar colonies, see Part II., § 13.

Jaffa to Jerusalem. — Ludd, so called by the British
troops but properly Lydd, the ancient Lydda, is the junction
for the Kantara-Haifa and Jaffa- Jerusalem railway lines.

88 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

It is a town of some 7,000 inhabitants, of whom about 5,000
are Moslems and tlie remainder Orthodox Christians. Its
chief interest lies in its connexion with S. George of England,
generally identified by Moslems with Sheikh Khidr (Elijah).
We hear in the sixth century of a church built over his
tomb. The Crusaders erected a cathedral over the shrine,
and portions of this mediaeval building are still discernible,
embodied in the present church restored in the nineteenth
century. It is not improbable that the legend of S. George
and the dragon and its connexion with Lydda are due to
the conveyance to the Saint of the legend of Perseus and
Andromeda.

Ramleh means " the sandy," and was founded in the
eighth century a.d. by the Omayyads. Its celebrated Tower
(the " Tower of the 40 Martyrs ") is of Moslem origin and
dates from . the fourteenth century (see § i above) . The
Tower was the minaret of a large mosque originally built
by Khalif Suleyman, the founder of the town.

Gezer, whose ruins lie near the village of Abu Shusheh,
figures in the Tel al-'Amarna letters, and was excavated by
Professor Macalister, who traced therfe the remains of Arab,
Christian, Roman, Maccabean, Jewish, Israelite and
Canaanite civilizations. ^

Latrun marks, for travellers by road, the end of the plain
and the beginning of the Judaean hills. The name, which
was originally Natrun, was confused in the Middle Ages
with the Latin latro, a robber, and from this association
there arose the mediaeval legend that this was the birth-
place of the Penitent Thief.

Amwas, which lies close to Latrun, disputes with the not
far distant Qubeibeh the claim to be the Emmaus of the
New Testament.

Enab, also known as Abu Ghosh or, in full, as Qariet
al-Enab (" the village of grapes "), contains a mediaeval
church recently restored by the Benedictines.

The last big village before Jerusalem is reached is Ain
Karem, probably the Karem of the Septuagint and the

iSee R. A. S. Macalister, Bible Sidelights from the Mound of Gezer, London, 1906.

JERUSALEM AND JAFFA PROVINCE 89

traditional birthplace of John the Baptist. Franciscan and
Russian monasteries surmount sites connected with the
Baptist's birth and life.

Jerusalem. — Jerusalem's unique history can only be
touched upon here in outline. We have seen (Part I., § 3)
that Urusalim appears among the cities of Palestine in the
fifteenth century b.c. ; and as Jebus the city was captured
by David from the Jebusites about 1000 b.c. Enlarged by
Solomon and embellished with the First Temple, it became,
after the division of the kingdom, the capital of Judaea.
In the reign of Rehoboam the city surrendered to the
Egyptian King Shishak, who despoiled Temple and Palace
of much of their ornaments.

King Hezekiah endowed his capital with a water-supply
and, at the approach of Sennacherib, repaired the forti-
fications. Jehoiakin surrendered it to Nebuchadnezzar,
who destroyed the Temple and carried away to Babylon
the king, together with thousands of the principal inhabi-
tants. The attempt of Zedekiah, the last king of Judah,
to revolt led to the destruction of the city in 587 and to
the second deportation of its inhabitants. After the return
of the Jews from the Captivity in 538 the Second Temple
was built by Nehemiah.

The Maccabean period has been referred to in Part I. ;
then came Herod the Great, a mighty builder, who aspired
to renew in Jerusalem the glories of King Solomon. He
built the Third Temple, erected a sumptuous royal palace
protected by the towers Hippicus, Phasael and Mariamne,
and endowed his capital with municipal buildings, theatre
and a circus for gymnastic games.

The subsequent vicissitudes of Jerusalem are so entirely
bound up with the general history of Palestine (of which a
sketch is given in Part I.) that it is needless to recall them
here. The next outstanding date after the city's capture
by Titus in 70 a.d. is its surrender to 'Omar in 637. The
Arabs treated the inhabitants with clemency, and permitted
them to remain in the city on payment of the kharaj
(poll-tax). The Khalif Harun al-Rashid is said actually to

90 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

have sent the keys of the Holy Sepulchre to Charlemagne ;
and we have seen in § i above that the Carolingian
Emperors sent contributions for the support of Christian
pilgrims proceeding to Jerusalem.

The Arabs named the town Beit al-Maqdes (" house of
the sanctuary "), or, more shortly, al-Quds (" the sanc-
tuary "), and its present Arab name remains Quds al-Sherif.
The oldest known plan of Jerusalem is contained in the
mosaic map of Palestine discovered in 1897 at Madaba in
Trans-jordania, and dates from about a century prior to the
capture of the city by the Arabs.

The Crusading period has been dealt with in Part I. In
15 1 7, as we have seen, Jerusalem surrendered to the Ottoman
Turks under Sultan Selim I., and in 1542 the walls of Jeru-
salem were rebuilt in their present form by Suleyman the
Magnificent. In 1862 the Prince of Wales, afterwards King
Edward VII., visited Jerusalem and did much to bring about
the constitution of the Palestine Exploration Fund. For
the improvements wrought in Jerusalem since the British
Occupation, see Part I., § 7.

It is not proposed here to describe or even to enumerate
all the monuments and sights of Jerusalem, or to attempt
to enter into the vexed question of its topography ; this
must be left to the guide-books. It must suffice to indicate
the outstanding objects of interest of a city, where almost
every stone has its history and significance.

The principal monuments are the Haram al-Sherif ; the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre, together with the remains of
the basilica of Constantine ; the walls, gates and citadel ;
the Wailing Wall of the Jews ; the Armenian cathedral ; the
Caenaculum or tomb of David ; the Jewish tombs in
the valley of Jehoshaphat ; the Crusaders' Church of
S. Anne ; the Ecce Homo arch and adjoining remains ;
the Church of the Tomb of the Virgin and the Garden of
Gethsemane ; and the Mount of Olives. The old city within
the walls, that " city compact together " with its vaulted
suqs (bazaars) and narrow streets that have undergone no
change for centuries, with its steep alleys flanked in many

JERUSALEM AND JAFFA PROVINCE 91

cases by masterpieces of Saracenic architecture, may well,
however, be regarded as the greatest monument of all,
unique in its compactness, in its appearance of hoar anti-
quity, and in that homogeneity which it is the aim of its
present administrators jealously to preserve.

The Haram al-Sherif is the platform, artificially prolonged
towards the east and south on substructures known in part
as " Solomon's Stables," upon which stood the Temple of
Solomon and its successors. In the centre of the Haram
area is an outcrop of the naked rock, now . surmounted by
the beautiful mosque known as the Dome of the Rock.
This rock can probably claim a greater continuity of
religious tradition than any other spot in the world. On
it there stood in all likelihood the altar of burnt-offerings
of the First Temple ; traces of a channel for carrying off
the blood, which are visible in the rock, would appear to
confirm tliis theory. Here, or hereabouts, stood Hadrian's
Temple of Aelia Capitolina ; here the Khalif 'Omar built
a small wooden mosque, which subsequently gave place to
the present masterpiece of Moslem architecture ; on the
rock, finally, the Crusaders erected an altar when they
converted the mosque into the Templum Domini.

The Dome of the Rock (in Arabic, Qubbet al-Sakhra),^
was built by Khalif 'Abd al-Melek towards the end of the
seventh century, and was probably restored by the Khalif
al-Mamun in the ninth century, and again in 913. The
dome itself, consisting of two concentric wooden vaults, was
erected by the mad Khalif Hakim in 1022 in the place
of the original dome, which had collapsed six years
previously.

The mosque is in the form of a flat-roof ed _ octagon sur-
mounted by a drum, on which is borne the dome. The
outer surface is covered, as regards the lower part, with
marble slabs, as regards the upper, with a brilliant series
of coloured tiles added by Suleyman the Magnificent in
1561. It is of interest to record that the original kilns in

* See E. T. Richmond, The Dome of the Rock and its present Condition, Oxford
1922.

92 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

which these tiles were manufactured were discovered in the
Haram precincts after the British Occupation, and that
potters from Kutahia have been brought to Jerusalem under
the auspices of the Pro-Jerusalem Society to make tiles in
the old manner to replace such original tiles as have been
destroyed by weathering in the course of centuries.

The interior of the building is a marvel of colouring and
decoration. The roof of the octagon is richly decorated in
green, blue and gold ; the drum is adorned with sumptuous
mosaics by Byzantine artists of the tenth and eleventh
centuries ; the stucco incrustation of the inner dome pro-
duces a most rich effect with its red and golden tones. Not
the least beautiful feature of the interior lies in the coloured
glass of the windows. The rock itself is surrounded by a
screen of wrought iron, placed there by the Crusaders when
they converted the building to Christian use. The in-
scription on the inside of the drum records its construction
in 72 A.H. (691 A.D.) by 'Abd al-Melek, whose name was
excised from the inscription and replace^ by that of al-
Mamun one hundred and twenty years later.

Many traditions, Moslem and Talmudic, attach to the
rock, which is believed to hover over the waters of the
flood and to be the centre of the world, the gate of hell,
the scene of the sacrifice of Isaac, and much else of a fan-
tastic nature. According to Moslem belief it was from the
rock that Mohammed was translated to heaven on the back
of al-Buraq, his magic steed of the human face.

To the south of the Dome of the Rock stands its tiny
prototype, the Dome of the Chain, built by 'Abd al-Melek
as a treasure-house to contain the money which he had
set apart iox the reconstruction of the Haram area. At
the southern end of the Haram rises the celebrated Mosque
al-Aqsa, the " more distant " shrine, to which God conveyed
the Prophet in a single night (Sura xvii., i). The Aqsa
mosque in its present form occupies the site of Justinian's
Church of the Panagia, and, despite almost complete recon-
struction by the Khalifs and their successors, retains, in
outline at all events, much of its original character of a

JERUSALEM AND JAFFA PROVINCE 93

Byzantine basilica. The dome, which is of wood, covered
with lead without, is handsomely decorated in a manner
similar to the dome of the Qubbet al-Sakhra. Its mihrab
and pulpit have been referred to in § i above. A staircase
in front of the narthex of the mosque leads down to the
southern substructures and to the vestibule of the old
Double Gate ; " Solomon's Stables " are entered from the
south-east corner of the Haram area.

Enclosing and overlooking the Haram on the west and
south are a series of superb madrasas and other Saracenic
buildings of the highest merit {cf. § i above) ; the Suq
al-Qattanin (bazaar of- the cotton merchants), which forms
the principal entrance to the Haram area, is the most
important of the old vaulted bazaars of Palestine and Syria,
and was preserved from imminent destruction in 1919
through the efforts of the Pro- Jerusalem Society. The
minaret in the north-western corner of the Haram rises on
the remains of the Antonia tower.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre ^ stands in the north-
western corner of the old city, but is concealed from view
by the many Patriarchates, monasteries, chapels and other
ecclesiastical buildings, which cluster round it and only
leave open to view the southern fa9ade. Originally a group
of small separate churches, rising on the holy sites in the
fourth century and after, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
received its present form from the Crusaders, who erected
one large Romanesque church to embrace the chapels cover-
ing the several sites. In 1799 a great part of the Church
of the Holy Sepulchre was rebuilt, only to be destroyed
almost entirely by fire in 1808 ; another comprehensive
rebuilding followed in 1810, Of its two conspicuous domes,
the larger westerly dome, surmounting the Rotunda and
the Sepulchre itself, was constructed of iron lattice girders
under Russian auspices in 1868. The eastern dome is part
of the Crusading building, and appears to have escaped

' The most recent Erio;li3h work on the Holy Sepulchre is Jeffery, A Brief
Description of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem, and other Christian Churches in the
Holy City, xvith some account of the mediaeval copies of the Holy Sepulchre surviving
in Eifrope, Cci\nhrk\f^e, i()tq.

94 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

untouched the reconstruction of 1810 ; it is probably the
largest dome of its type ever built in Palestine. The belfry
is twelfth-century work, but has lost its topmost story.

The two-storied Romanesque fa9ade is interesting : the
lower story forms a double portal, the lintels of both
doors being adorned with admirable bas-reliefs of the
twelfth century. The upper story encloses windows.

The interior is divided into two principal parts, the
Rotunda and the old " Chorus Dominorum," now the
Orthodox cathedral. The Rotunda, whose central object
is the small shrine covering the Tomb of Christ, dates in
its present form, together with its dome and the shrine of
the Sepulchre, from the nineteenth century, although the
design and dimensions have been meticulously preserved
from the earlier buildings. On the other hand, the " Chorus
Dominorum " and transept date from the twelfth century,
the vaulting over the transept being of particular interest
as the earliest known example of the diagonal rib, a feature
which differentiates pure Gothic from Romanesque. The
chapels of Golgotha are reached by steps leading upwards
from the east of the porch ; the interesting chapel of
S. Helena is at a lower level and is reached by a flight of
steps descending from the ambulatory. From S. Helena's
chapel another flight of steps leads down to the chapel of
the Invention of the Cross.

What renders the Church of the Holy Sepulchre of out-
standing interest, apart from its sanctity in the eyes of a
large portion of mankind, is the fact that it is shared by
representatives of most of the Churches of Christendom.
Roman Catholics, Orthodox, Armenians, Jacobites, Copts
and Abyssinians have their appointed chapels and rights
within its walls (formerly also Georgians and Nestorians),
and in it is celebrated almost every known form of Christian
liturgy and ritual. During Holy Week and at the other
great festivals of the Christian year it offers to the spectator
a diversity of Christian ceremonial visible nowhere else under
one roof.

Adjoining the Holy Sepulchre to the south-east is the

JERUSALEM AND JAFFA PROVINCE 95

Orthodox monastery of Abraham, in one of whose chapels
the Church of England has the right to celebrate services ;
below this, again, is the modern building belonging to
the Russian Palestine Society, which encloses important
remains of the " Martyrium " of Constantine.

The oldest part of the Walls is that which is also the
enclosing wall of the Haram area ; much of this is Herodian,
but is partly concealed by immense masses of debris. The
walls received additions at the hands of the Romans and
the Byzantines, and were comprehensively restored by
Saladin, not a little of whose work survives. The city
walls, apart from the Haram section, owe their present
form in the main to the Ottoman Sultan Suleyman the
Magnificent. The Gates, beginning with the Damascus
Gate, and going eastwards are : the Damascus Gate, Herod's
Gate, S. Stephen's Gate, the Golden Gate (an elaborate
Byzantine structure within the Haram area, built by the
Empress Eudocia in the fifth century and walled up by
the Turks in 1530 ; the Gate through which the Palm
Sunday processions entered the city during the Crusades),
the Dung Gate or Gate of the Magharbeh, the Zion Gate,
the Jaffa Gate, and the modern opening known as the New
Gate. Adjoining the Jaffa Gate is the Citadel, a massive
fortress of five mighty towers, probably occupying the site
of Herod's Palace. The Citadel in its present form dates
from the beginning of the fourteenth century, with six-
teenth-century additions. But the drafted blocks of the
foundations are of much earlier date, and the north-east
tower probably corresponds with the tower of Phasael of
the Herodian structure. Much work has been done by the
Pro-Jerusalem Society in repairing the Citadel and in clear-
ing up the debris with which the interior and the moat
were encumbered.

The Wailing Wall of the Jews is an ancient section of the
western Haram wall, and is much resorted to for the purp'ose
of prayer by pious Jews, particularly on the Sabbath, when
the festal dress of the Ashkenazim offers a picturesque
spectacle,

96 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

The Armenian Patriarchate and Cathedral, the largest con
ventual enclosure in Palestine, occupies with its hospices,
schools and gardens the greater part of the south-western
quarter of the old city. The Cathedral of S. James the
Less, with its rich treasury, is of considerable interest,
and is lined with Kutahia tiles of an unusual figured type.^

Within the Armenian compound is shown an interesting
old chapel regarded as occupying the site of the house of
Annas ; while to the south of the Zion Gate is the Armenian
Monastery of Mt. Zion with the traditional house of Caiaphas
and the tombs of the Armenian Patriarchs of Jerusalem.
The house of Annas is also known as the " Convent of the
Olive Tree " (from a very old olive believed to have sprung
from the tree to which Christ was bound), and, together
with the house of Caiaphas, is decorated with tiles similar
to those of the Cathedral.

The Caenaculum or Tomb of David (al-Nebi Daud), to
the south of the Zion Gate, is a venerable shrine known in
the Middle Ages as " Mater Ecclesiarum " because con-
sidered to be the house of the Virgin Mary and the place
where the Last Supper was celebrated. The existing monu-
ment is a Gothic church built, probably by Cypriote masons,
in the middle of the fourteenth century ; after being in
the possession of the Augustinian Canons and afterwards
of the Franciscans, it passed in 1547 into the hands of the
Moslems, in whose ownership it has remained. The " Upper
Chamber " is accessible to non-Moslem visitors, but the
lower room, alleged to contain the Tomb of David, is shown
only to Moslems.

The Valley of Jehoshaphat (Valley of the Kidron ; Wadi
Sitti Maryam) runs along the eastern boundary of the city,
which it separates from the Mount of Olives, and has been
from time immemorial the burial-place of the inhabitants
of Jerusalem. Of particular interest are the Jewish monu-
me^its of uncertain dates known as the Tomb of Absalom
(a remarkable rock-cube surmounted by a superstructure

» These tiles are described and illustrated in C, A. Nomicos, Ta XpiariavcKa
KepafiovpyrffxaTa tov 'Apfx^fiKov lla-Tpt.ap)(eiov iCty 'lepoa-oKvfjuov, Alexandria, 1923,

JERUSALEM AND JAFFA PROVINCE 97

terminating in an oddly shaped spire), the so-called Tomb
of Jehoshaphat, the Grotto of S. James, and the Pyramid
of Zacharias. Below these tombs the valley leads past the
village of Siloam (Silwan) until it is joined at right angles
by the Valley of Hinnom.

Among the most complete remains of the Crusading era
are the Church of S. Anne, inside S. Stephen's Gate, and
the Church of the Tomb of the Virgin, outside it on the road
to the Gethsemane. The former was built by the Queen
of Baldwin I. in the twelfth century, was offered to and
refused by the British Government after the Crimean War,
and was then presented to Napoleon III., by whom this
well preserved Gothic building was intelligently restored.

The Church of the Tomb of the Virgin is in its present form
the handiwork of Queen Melisende, whose tomb it contains.

The adjoining Garden of Gethsemane is divided into shares
belonging respectively to the Latins, the Orthodox Patri-
archate of Jerusalem, the Russians, and the Armenians.
The early Christian basilica recently excavated in the Latin
Garden of Gethsemane has been referred to in § 2 above.

The Ecce Homo Arch is probably part of a Roman or
Byzantine triumphal arch, whose northern end has been
ingeniously incorporated within the church of the " Dames
de Sion,"

The Mount of Olives (in Arabic, Jebel al-Tur) stands
2,680 feet above sea-level, and is crowned by a number of
churches and convents, of which the most ancient is the
small octagonal Church of the Ascension, dating from
the fifth century (see § i above). Other buildings are the
Orthodox Convent of Galilee ; a modern Russian convent
with its conspicuous view-tower; and a group of Latin
buildings, including the Church of the Paternoster.

Dominating the northern end of the Mt. of Olives is a
massively constructed German Protestant Hospice, built by
William II. in 19 10 and now the Government House of the
Palestine Administration.

The most satisfactory of the modern buildings of Jeru-
salem is the Anglican Cathedral and Close of S. George with

L.P. G

98 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

its small and attractive cloister, built for the late Bishop
Blyth by Mr. George Jeffery. Conspicuous are the German
Catholic Church of the Dormition outside the Zion Gate (its
design based on that of the Cathedral of Aix-la-Chapelle),
and the Lutheran Church of the Muristan, embodying frag-
ments of the mediaeval Church of S. Maria Latina.

One and a half miles west of the Jaffa Gate lies the
ancient Orthodox Monastery of the Cross, for many cen-
turies in the possession of the Georgians.

Bethlehem. — Bethlehem lies 5^ miles south of Jerusalem,
and is reached by a main road which passes, after 4 miles,
the Tomb of Rachel. The birthplace of Christ and of King
David is now a town of 6,200 inhabitants, mostly Christians,
and stands 2,500 ft. above sea-level. The name Bethlehem
(Beit al-Lahm) means the " house of meat," and has been
the appellation of the place from earliest times. Bethlehem
is the scene of the story of the Book of Ruth, and in Old
Testament times is famous for its association with the
House of David. Since the time of Constantine Bethlehem
has been predominantly Christian, and is remarkable for
the number of its churches and religious institutions of all
periods surrounding an agglomeration of ancient, narrow
and picturesque streets. Noteworthy is the mediaeval
dress still worn by the Bethlehem women, married women
being distinguished by a tall white coif.

Bethlehem's outstanding monument is the Basilica of the
Nativity ^ erected over the traditional birthplace of Christ.
It is the oldest Christian church still in use, and, although
restored and enlarged by Justinian in the sixth century,
is essentially one with the basilica built by Constantine
in 330. The church, whose diminutive entrance was
intended as a protection against the entry of camels,
donkeys, etc., consists of a nave and double aisles, of a wide
transept and a semj-circular apse. The nave and aisles are
separated from each other by four rows of monolithic
columns, surmounted, by Corinthian capitals. The walls

* See Vincent and Abel, BethUem : Le Sanchaire de la Nativity, Gabalda, Paris,
-1914.

JERUSALEM AND JAFFA PROVINCE 99

of the nave and transept are decorated with mosaics, with
which the church was endowed by the Byzantine Emperor
Manuel Comnenus in the twelfth century. In 1482 the
roof, which had fallen into decay, was repaired, the lead
for this purpose being given by King Edward IV. of England.

Two flights of steps descend into the Chapel of the
Nativity and the Chapel of the Manger, which are situated
below the choir. The unsightly wall, which formerly
separated the nave from the transept and practically
divided the church into two separate parts, was removed
at the instance of the Governor of Jerusalem in 19 19.

Like the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Church of
the Nativity is shared by several communities (Orthodox,
Latin, Armenian, Jacobite, Abyssinian and Coptic). In
the extensive grotto below the church is shown the tomb
of S. Jerome, who dwelt for many years in Bethlehem and
died there in 420.

Two miles south of Bethlehem are the three mighty
ancient reservoirs known as the " Pools of Solomon."
These reservoirs are of considerable antiquity and collected
the water for Jerusalem's early water-supply. They are now
again being brought into use in conjunction with the other
ancient sources at Arrub {cf. Part I., § 7, and Part V., § 10).

Between Bethlehem and the Dead Sea, at the head of a
deep cafion, lies the Orthodox Monastery of S. Sabbas (Mar
Saba), an ancient settlement of ascetics established in the
fifth century. Ladies are not admitted within the monas-
tery, which stands precipitously on the side of the cafion,
but are able to overlook it from a mediaeval tower outside
the porch. About 45 monks at present inhabit the monas-
tery and lead lives of great austerity.

Jericho. — Jericho (in Arabic, Eriha) was the scene of the
first victory of the Israelites in Palestine, was sacked by
Joshua, but was subsequently rebuilt and formed part of
the inheritance of Benjamin. It was liere that Elijah per-
formed the miracle of rendering a bitter spring sweet. After
the Captivity Jericho increased in prosperity, and was subse-
quently given by Mark Antony to Cleopatra, who, in her turn,

loo THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

sold it to Herod the Great. The latter irrigated the district
and built a winter palace, the ruins of which were excavated
by the Germans in 1909. Herod died at Jericho in 4 B.C.

New Testament Jericho sprang up somewhat to the north
of the older town, became the seat of a bishop in the fourth
century, but decayed after the fall of the Crusading kingdom,
together with its once prosperous cultivations of dates,
sugar-cane, balsam, henna, and other sub- tropical products.
It is now a somewhat squalid township of 1,000 inhabitants
and, as being the lowest town on the earth's surface (820
feet below sea-level), is unbearably hot in summer, although
its winter climate is pleasant.

There is little to see in Jericho itself beyond the excava-
tions of the German Oriental Society, which have laid bare
the traces of an outer and inner course of walls and have
unearthed a part of the actual masonry. Jericho is over-
looked to the south-west by the Mount of Temptation (Jebel
Qarantal), half-way up the face of which is perched an
Orthodox monastery, remarkable chiefly for its amazing
situation and for its fine view over the Ghor. Running
westward from the Ghor is the caiion known as the Wadi
Qelt, containing the small Orthodox monastery of S. George,
also perched on the face of the cliff. The whole of this
region was, in early Christian times, thickly dotted with the
settlements of hermits.

Interesting processions to the Jordan take place from
Jericho at the Orthodox Epiphany and Easter, when pil-
grims, robed in white shrouds, bathe in the river. The
bathing-place of the pilgrim is supposed to be the scene of
the Baptism of Christ, the miraculous division of the waters
by the cloak of Elijah, and the legend of S. Christopher,
who carried the Infant Christ across the river. Between
Jericho and the Dead Sea lie the large Orthodox monasteries
of S. John (also known as the " Castle of the Jews ") and
of S. Gerasimos, incorporating early Christian remains.

For the peculiar tropical flora of the Jordan Valley, see
Part v., § 9 ; for the Ghor and the Dead Sea in general, see
Part I., § 2, and Part VI., § i.

ct 1

SAMARIA PROVINCE loi

§ 7. Samaria Province.

Nablus. — Nablus, the capital of Samaria Province, is
peculiar among the towns of Palestine in having kept its
more recent name, NeaTroXf?, in preference to its original
name Shechem.

Shechem is associated with the earliest period of Jewish
settlement in Palestine, for here Abraham pitched his tent
on entering the country, and set up the first altar to Jehovah
on a spot still shown on the slope of Mt. Ebal. Again, to
Shechem, which lies in the long and narrow valley separating
Mt. Ebal from Mt. Gerizim, Joshua led the Israelites after
the miraculous passage of the Jordan, and on the slopes of
the two mountains recited the Law of Moses. From Ebal
and Gerizim were pronounced the blessings and the cursings .

The community most enduringly associated with Nablus
is that of the Samaritans {cf. Part II., § 16), who claim
Gerizim as the hill of Joshua's altar and as " the place where
men ought to worship " (S. John, iv., 20).

Abimelek, who was the son of Gideon and a woman of
Shechem, ruled here for three years, and then destroyed the
city in order to punish the Samaritans, who had risen against
him. Rehoboam's foolish speech at his coronation in
Shechem led to the division of the Jewish State into the
Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and Jeroboam established
here the first capital of the Northern Kingdom. After the
fall of Jerusalem Shechem is recorded as being inhabited
by the Samaritans (Jeremiah, xli., 5), and, after the Jewish
wars, becomes, under Vespasian, the city of Flavia Neapolis.

In the early centuries of Christianity Neapolis was con-
stantly the scene of strife between the Samaritans and the
Christians, and Justinian was compelled to put down with
severity a serious revolt of the former ; from this revolt is
to be dated the decay in the numbers of the Samaritan
people.

Nablus was captured by the Crusaders under Tancred,
and an important ecclesiastical Council was held here in
the reign of Baldwin II.

102 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

:ine is m

One of the best authenticated holy sites in Palestine
Jacob's Well, which lies just outside the eastern end of the
town, below the little village of Sychar, and is the scene of
Christ's conversation with the woman of Samaria. A
Byzantine church, which was erected over the well, gave
place to a Crusaders' church, on whose ruins a modern
Orthodox church is in course of construction.

Nablus itself is long and narrow, and is traversed by two
parallel stcqs, containing several mosques which were for-
merly Byzantine or Crusaders' churches. The " Great
Mosque," in the eastern part of the town, was originally a
basilica built by Justinian and rebuilt by the Crusaders in
the twelfth century. Its interesting eastern porch is well
preserved. Other mosques of Crusading origin are the
Jami' al-Khadra and the Jami' al-Nasr ; the former is
believed to stand on the spot where Joseph's brethren
brought his coat to Jacob. The small, compact Samaritan
quarter lies in the south-western part of the town, in that
corner of Nablus which runs up the valley towards Mt.
Gerizim.

Samaria. — Samaria, now the village of Sebastieh, stands
on the ' egg-shaped ' hill from which the ancient Jewish
town took its name of " watch-hill." Samaria was founded
by Omri, King of Israel, remained the capital of the Northern
Kingdom until its capture by Sargon in 722 B.C., and, in
the days of the Maccabees, gave its name to all Central
Palestine. Herod the Great rebuilt it on an ambitious
scale, endowed it with handsome monuments, made of it a
pleasure resort, and, in compliment to Augustus, gave to
it the name of Sebaste, which it still bears.

Excavations were conducted at Samaria by the Univer-
sity of Harvard in 1908-9. The chief discoveries were, on
the summit, the foundations of a large temple built by
Herod the Great, including the grand stairway (still visible) ,
an altar, and a torso of Augustus. In the same area deeper
cuttings exposed older buildings, some of the masonry of
which was shown to be of the period of Omri and Ahab.
On a broad terrace, north-east, there were uncovered the

SAMARIA PROVINCE 103

remains of a basilica in classical style. . This is more
properly the Senate House (Curia) or Council Chamber
of the city ; and the tiers of seats, forming a half-
theatre around the well of the apse, are well seen. This
part was roofed, while the forecourt was open with a sur-
rounding cloister. The style and character of the work are
Herodian.

Other features of interest are the fine Roman gateway to
the west, with circular flanking towers upon older square
foundations ; an avenue of columns indicating the principal
road through the town ; and the site of the Stadium on the
low ground to the north-east.

Below the village stands the well-preserved Crusaders'
church of S. John the Baptist, now a mosque. Tradition
places both the beheading and the burial of the Baptist at
Samaria.

Ta'anach and Megiddo. — In the rich plain of Esdraelon
or Jezreel, north-west of Jenin, lie the ancient sites of
Ta'anach and Megiddo, where excavations have brought to
light not only a good deal of pottery of an early period, but
many evidences of Babylonian culture.

Beisan. — East of Jenin, in the Jordan valley, lies Beisan,
the Beth-Shan of the Old Testament and the Greek Scytho-
polis. Excavations were begun here, in the imposing mound
called Tel Hosn, by the University of Pennsylvania in 192 1,
and are proceeding. The site dominates the approaches to
Palestine by the Jordan and Esdraelon from the direction
of Damascus, and is aptly called the key to Palestine. Trial
sections have disclosed stratifications leading back to the
earliest phases of settlement in the Bronze Age. Systematic
clearing from the top has recovered the plans of superposed
mediaeval and Byzantine cities, with monastic buildings of
the later date and a great rotunda of the earlier date. The
excavations promise results of great interest. A monument
of the Egyptian Pharaoh Seti I. has been found, together
with tombs of the same period.

I04 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

§ 8. The Northern Province.

Haifa and Mt. Carmel. — Haifa, the capital of the
Northern Province, is a flourishing port of some 34,000
inhabitants situated at the foot of Mt. Carmel. Archaeo-
logically, however, it has nothing of interest to offer.

Mt. Carmel, famed from Old Testament times for its
beauty, is one of the most attractive regions of Palestine.
Not very high (its highest point is only 1,810 ft.), it is more
than twelve miles long, running from Haifa in a south-
easterly direction. Its perennial green, which it owes to a
heavy dewfall, contrasts pleasantly in summer with the rest
of Palestine, while re-afforestation by the Government is
endeavouring to repair the ravages to its once thick forests.
At a height of 560 ft., commanding a wide view, stands the
Carmelite Monastery, the parent-house of a monastic order
which was founded here in 1156 and takes its name from
the mountain. Accommodation in the monastery is occa-
sionally available on application to the Vicar of Mt. Carmel.
The so-called " Place of Burning," commemorating the
miracle of Elijah and the priests of Baal (i Kings, xviii.),
is on the south-eastern point of Mt. Carmel, at a height of
1,685 ft.

Athlit and Caesarea. — On the coast south of Haifa lies
the Crusaders' castle of Athlit, a stronghold of the Knights
Templar under the names of Chateau Pelerin and Petra
Incisa. It was the very last possession of the Crusaders in
Palestine, being captured by Melek al-Ashraf on the 14th
August, 1 29 1, after Acre had already fallen. The Depart-
ment of Antiquities has recently undertaken certain work
of clearing and preservation in the castle, and has exposed
the remains of a polygonal church.

Very little remains to-day of the ancient city of Caesarea,
after 70 a.d. the capital of Roman Palestine and residence
of the Procurators, and the ecclesiastical capital until
451 A.D. {of. Part II., § 6). S. Paul was a prisoner in
Caesarea for two years. The town was taken by the
Crusaders under Baldwin I. in iioi, when the booty included

THE NORTHERN PROVINCE 105

the green crystal vase supposed to have been used at the
Last Supper, and subsequently famous in mediaeval litera-
ture and legend as the " Holy Grail." Caesarea was finally
destroyed by Bibars in 1265, and its ruins are now inhabited
by the Bosnians referred to in Part II., § 4.

Acre. — The varied history of Acre has been touched upon
in Part I., §§ 5 and 6. It is mentioned only once in the
Old Testament (Judges, i., 31), under the name of Accho,
and once also in the New Testament (Acts, xxi., 7), under
its Greek name of Ptolemais. According to the Talmud
the Jews regarded Acre as being outside the confines of
the Holy Land, whose frontier was its outer wall. The
town became of importance during the Crusades, and was
the favourite seat of the Court of the Latin Kingdom. On
the fall of Jerusalem it succeeded that city as the capital
and as the headquarters of the Knightly Orders, owing its
full name of S. Jean d'Acre to the Knights Hospitallers.
It was for several years, until its fall in May, 1291, the last
outpost of the Crusaders in Palestine.

Even after the disappearance of the Franks Acre remained
the usual landing-place for Christian pilgrims from the
West. In more recent times it has stood several sieges,
notably by Napoleon in 1799 ; was captured by Ibrahim
Pasha in 1831 ; and was bombarded in 1840 by the British,
Austrian and Turkish fleets under Stopford and Napier.
In later Turkish times Acre was the capital of the Sanjaq
which bore its name. Its connexion with the Balia'i sect
is described in Part II., § 18.

Now a town of about 4,000 inhabitants. Acre is one of
the most picturesque places in Palestine. The walls and
earthworks, which have been described as a perfect example
of a late eighteenth-century fortress, are practically intact.
Built largely on Crusaders' foundations and from the debris
of Crusaders' walls by 'Omar al-Daher, and completed by
Jezzar Pasha between 1775 and 1802, they form a most
interesting feature of the place, and still bear signs, in the
form of round shot embedded in them, of the bombard-
ment of 1840.

io6 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

From the direction of Haifa a picturesque view is obtained
of the southern battlements, the ruins of the ' Tower of
Flies,' and the remains of the Phoenician breakwater. The
town is entered through an archway in which still stand
the original massive iron-plated gates. Here can be seen
a beam on which criminals were formerly hanged. Inside
the gate is the ' White Market,' with a vaulted roof of
curious construction, while the general markets and bazaars
stretch down towards the harbour. Acre possesses no less
than four commodious khans, for, prior to the construction
of the Damascus-Haifa Railway, all the wheat trade passed
through Acre ; during the season from two to three thousand
camels would arrive daily laden with grain. The most in-
teresting of the khans are the Khan Shahwarda, which
contains a number of old cannon of the time of Sir Sidney
Smith, and the Khan al-Umdan near the harbour. The
most important of Acre's six mosques was built by Jezzar
Pasha about 1790 of materials brought from Ascalon,
Caesarea, Sidon and elsewhere ; it has dignity and grace,
and is set in pleasant surroundings. The courtyard is sur-
rounded by a colonnade and by domed cells for the accom-
modation of scholars. In a detached building are the
tombs of its bloodthirsty founder, Ahmed Pasha al-Jezzar,
the Butcher Pasha of Napoleon's siege, and of his successor
Suleyman. On the opposite side of the road is the Turkish
arsenal, where lie stacks of round shot of all sizes, bar and
chain shot, fireballs, cannister, grape and other ordnance of
the eighteenth century, much of which was put on shore
by the English at the time of Napoleon's siege. Under the
Citadel, which was built by 'Abdallah Pasha about 1820
and is now used as a central prison, and under the Girls'
School on the opposite side of the road, are the crypts of
the residence of the Knights of S. John, in good preservation
and worthy of a visit. The porch of the Crusaders' Cathe-
dral, now destroyed, was removed after the city's fall to
Cairo, where it may still be seen embodied in the fagade of
the iiXrhe of Mohammed al-Nasr. In the Citadel tower,
whence there is a fine view, is a small museum with a

THE NORTHERN PROVINCE 107

collection of Phoenician glass. Near by is the hamniam
built by Jezzar, the finest Turkish Bath in Palestine.

About half a mile to the east of the walls is Tel al-Fukhar,
where King Richard pitched his tent in 11 90-1 ; from this
place Napoleon directed operations in 1799. About one
mile to the north-east is the village of Menshieh, where was
the French Camp, and close by are the orange gardens of
Baghche and the tombs of Baha'u'llah and Sir Abbas
Effendi 'Abdu'l Baha. Across the plain to the north can
be traced the aqueduct — rebuilt by Jezzar and 'Abdallah,
probably on the ruins of a Roman aqueduct — conveying
the water a distance of 8 miles into Acre. To the north-
east on the hillside can be seen the late Arab castle of
Jeddin, and to the north the white cliff of Ras al-Nakura
(the boundary between Palestine and Syria) and the be-
ginning of the " Ladder of Tyre." The beautiful Wadi
Qurn, well wooded and with a strongly flowing stream,
deserves a visit, together with the ruins of the Crusaders'
castle of Montfort (Qala'at Qurein). This castle of Mons
Fortis was begun in 1229 by Hermann von Salza, the Grand
Master of the Teutonic Order, and was the principal strong-
hold of the Order in Palestine. It was destroyed by Bibars.

Acre is connected with Haifa by a narrow-gauge railway,
which crosses the rivers Kishon (Nahr Muqatta) and Belus
(Nahr Na'mein) . The latter provided and still provides the
murex, from which the Phoenicians extracted the famous
Tyrian purple ; and Pliny records that glass was made from
its exceptionally fine sand.

There is a local prophecy to the effect that when the
waters of the river Belus reach the east gate of Acre the
English will take the town. This possibility arose from
the fact that Belus changes his course every year. In 1910 the
river approached so close to the gate that, in view of the
prophecy, the Turkish authorities became anxious. Num-
bers of sheep were publicly sacrificed on the spit of land
between the river and the gate, and that winter Belus moved
himself away from the walls.

Nazareth (al-Nasira). — No mention of Nazareth, where

io8 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

Christ spent His early youth and taught in the synagogue,
occurs in the Old Testament ; and in the time of Christ the
place was so insignificant that the term Nazarene was
applied to Him in derision. Down to the time of Con-
stantine Nazareth was inhabited by Samaritans ; then
dwindled rapidly in importance after the Arab conquest ;
revived during the Crusades only to contract again when
the Franks left Palestine ; but grew once more in the
seventeenth century, when the Franciscans were enabled
by the Druse Emir Fakhr al-Din to establish a church and
convent on the supposed site of the House of the Virgin
before its miraculous journey to Loretto. The enterprising
'Omar al-Daher {cf. Part I., § 6) increased the prosperity of
the place, which is now a flourishing town of about 9,000
inhabitants.

Nazareth is, like Jerusalem, a place of religious and
charitable establishments, and the heights around it are
crowned by imposing orphanages, hospitals and schools.
There are no buildings of great antiquity, unless we except
the church of the Melchites, which, it is claimed, is the
synagogue where Christ preached (S. Luke, iv., 16 sqq.).
The general aspect of Nazareth, with its hilly background,
its orchards, its cypresses and its many churches, is reminis-
cent of some Tuscan or Umbrian hill- town. Rising abruptly
from the plain south-east of Nazareth is the dome-shaped
Mt. Tabor.

Tiberias. — The road from Nazareth to Tiberias (16 miles)
passes Kafr-Kanna, the traditional scene of the Miracle of
Cana (S. John, ii.), and, farther on, runs close to the hill of
the " Horns of Hattin," the scene of the disastrous defeat
of the Crusaders in 1187 {cf. Part I., § 5).

Tiberias lies on the west bank of the Lake, and was
founded by Herod Antipas in honour of the Emperor
Tiberius, whose name it received. During the Jewish war
the town voluntarily surrendered to Vespasian, and on this
account the Jews were permitted to continue to reside
there. During the second, third and fourth centuries a.d.
it was the headquarters of the Jewish remnant in Palestine

THE NORTHERN PROVINCE 109

and the seat of the rabbinic Sanhedrin, the birthplace of
the Mishna and of the Palestinian Talmud [cf. Part II.,
§14). It is still the resort and the dwelling-place of
orthodox Jews, and continues to be a favourite place of
Talmudic study.

The town lies 681 ft. below sea-level and, as seen from
the hills overlooking the lake, is of picturesque appearance.
It is built, like many towns of S3^ria and Trans-jordania,
of black basalt, which gives it, on closer approach, a some-
what sombre look. It is partly enclosed within walls and
bastions, built or restored by 'Omar al-Daher.

A little to the south of Tiberias are the hot baths de-
scribed in Part IV., § 6, and below these, again, is the tomb
of the celebrated Talmudist Rabbi Meir. The tombs of the
philosopher Maimonides and of Rabbi Ben Akiba lie to
the north of the town.

At the northern end of the lake is Capernaum (Tel Hum),
whose interesting synagogue, now in process of excavation,
is referred to in § i above.

Safed. — Safed is the northernmost town of any size in
Palestine [c. 12,500 inhabitants) and stands at a height of
2,749 ft. Like Tiberias, Safed is a Jewish holy town, which
it became after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain and
Portugal. It then developed as a centre for the study of
the Kabhala ; and we have seen in Part II., § 14, that the
first printing press in Palestine was set up at Safed in 1563.

Safed contains the remains of a Templar castle, and
commands an extensive view towards Mt. Hermon and the
north. At Meiron, north-west of Safed, are the tombs of
Hillel and other famous Jewish teachers, to which pilgrims
resort in great numbers on the 30th April of each year.^

For Lake Huleh (the Waters of Merom), see Part I., § 2.

' For an explanation of the burnt-offerings which are still made by the pilgrims on
this occasion see Sir J. G. Frazcr, Adonis, Attis, Osiris (3rd edn. revised, 1910), vol. i.,
pp. 178-9.

PART IV.

COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION FOR
TOURISTS.

§ I. Palestine as a Tourist Resort.

Attractions of Palestine. — Palestine as a resort for
tourists possesses unique attractions, religious, historical,
climatic and archaeological, which need not be enlarged
upon here.

By the quickest route, under normal conditions, Palestine
is reached from London in six to seven days and from Cairo
in eighteen hours.

The best season to visit Palestine is from January to June.

For climate, see Part V.

Communications. — Rapid and comfortable communica-
tion between Egypt and Palestine is provided daily by trains
from Kantara East. In Palestine itself communication is
assured by an efficient railway system, by motor-car services
and by an extensive road system, all the first and second
class roads being suitable for motoring.

Hotels. — In the principal towns very fair accommodation
and cooking can be relied upon. Some of the hotels are
not of first-rate European standard, but they are clean, and
a stay in them is comfortable.

All the points here mentioned are dealt with in detail
below.

PALESTINE AS A TOURIST RESORT iii

Passport Regulations. —

(a) FOR BRITISH SUBJECTS.

1. British passports are issued by the Department of
Immigration and Travel, Jerusalem, and by British diplo-
matic and consular officers abroad. The charge for a British
passport is PT. 37. Application should be made on the
authorized form obtainable from those authorities.

2. British subjects making their homes or staying for
more than three months in Palestine should be registered
at the Department of Immigration and Travel.

3. British passports are not valid beyond two years from
the date of issue. They may be renewed for four further
periods of two years each, after which, or if at any time
there be no further space for visas, a fresh passport must
be obtained. The fee for each renewal is PT. 10.

4. The passport is only available for travel to the coun-
tries named thereon, but may be endorsed for additional
countries. The possession of a passport so endorsed does
not, however, exempt the holder from compliance with any
immigration regulations in force in British or foreign coun-
tries or from the necessity of obtaining a visa where required.

5. Passports endorsed as valid for the British Empire are
also available for travelling to territory under British pro-
tection or mandate, excluding, however, Palestine, Meso-
potamia or Egypt, for which countries the passport must
be specially endorsed.

6. During the two years for which a British passport is
valid, no further endorsement is required for journeys to
the countries for which the passport has already been made
available, unless the contrary is stated.

7. For journeys to countries other than those for which
the passport is already available, endorsements should be
obtained.

8. For journeys to countries other than British Posses-
sions, visas must be obtained from the foreign consular
representatives concerned.

112 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

{b) FOR PALESTINIANS.

1. Laissez-Passers valid for one year are issued b}
Department of Immigration and Travel at Jerusalem, Haifa,
or Jaffa.

2. Holders of Laissez-Passers desiring to travel in the
British Empire or to territory which is under British pro-
tection or mandate must obtain the necessary British visas,
either from the Department of Immigration and Travel in
Palestine or from His Majesty's representatives abroad.
British visas, unless otherwise endorsed, are valid for one
year.

3. Holders of Laissez-Passers who desire to travel to
countries other than British Possessions must obtain visas
from the foreign consular representatives concerned.

[c) FOR SUBJECTS OF OTHER STATES.

1. Passports are issued by the Consular Representatives
of Foreign Countries.

2. The regulations regarding British and Foreign visas,
mentioned in {b) 2 and 3 above apply also to the holders of
Foreign passports.

For list of Foreign Consuls, see Part VII.
Health Arrangements for Tourists. — Specially conducted
parties of tourists may land and proceed immediately on
their tour, except in cases where plague or cholera has
occurred on board the ship during the voyage or where the
ship has called at a cholera-infected port within five days
of reaching Palestine.

No individual or personal inspection of tourists will be
made, provided the following procedure is complied with :
(a) the Medical Officer of the ship will inform the Quaran-
tine Medical Officer at the Port of the state of
health of the whole party ;
{b) the Tourist Agent concerned will supply the Quaran-
tine Medical Officer with a nominal roll in duplicate
of each party landing for a special itinerary ;

PALESTINE AS A TOURIST RESORT 113

(c) the Tourist Agent conducting the party will report
the state of health on the third and fifth days after
the party lands to the District Health Office of the
town in which the party chances to be on these
days.

§ 2. Routes to Palestine.

Shipping. — Pre-war shipping and transport conditions are
not yet fully re-established. At the time of writing the
following are the details available :

{a) Prince Line. — From London — Gibraltar — Malta —
Alexandria — Jaffa — Haifa and Syrian coast ports.
Monthly calls.

Agents : A. Cassar, Jaffa ; S. Catoni & Son, Haifa.
{b) Wilson Line. — From Hull — Gibraltar — Alexandria
— Jaffa and Syrian coast ports.
Monthly calls.
Agents : Messrs. Cox worth, Jaffa.

— Malta — Alexandria — Jaffa — Haifa and Syrian

coast ports.
Monthly calls.
Agents : Messrs. Pardess & Co., Jaffa ; S. Catoni &

Son, Haifa,

[d) E Herman Line. — From Liverpool and London — Gib-

raltar — Malta — Alexandria — Jaffa — Haifa and

Syrian coast ports.
Monthly calls.
Agents : Messrs. Pardess & Co., Jaffa ; S. Catoni &

Son, Haifa.
{e) Khedivial Mail Line. — From Alexandria — Port-Said

— Jaffa — Haifa and Syrian coast ports.
Weekly calls.

Agents : A. Cassar, Jaffa ; S. Nassif, Haifa.
(/) Fabre Line. — F"rom Marseilles — Mediterranean Ports

to Alexandria — Jaffa — Haifa and Syrian coast ports,
Bi-monthly calls.
Agents : W. Tamari, Jaffa ; V, B. Motawa, Haifa,

L.P, H

114 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

(g) Message-vies Maritime s. — From Marseilles via Italy to
Alexandria — Jaffa — Haifa and Syrian ports.
Bi-monthly calls.

Agents : D. N. Tadros, Jaffa ; S. Catoni & Son, Haifa.
(h) Servizi Marittimi. — From Genoa-Italian coast ports —
to Alexandria — Jaffa — Haifa and Syrian ports.
Weekly calls.

Agents : E. Alonzo, Jaffa ; A. Picaloga, Haifa.
{i) Marittima Italiana. — From Genoa-Italian coast ports
— to Alexandria — Jaffa — Haifa and Syrian ports.
Bi-monthly calls.

Agents : M. Alonzo, Jaffa ; M. Khouri, Haifa.
[j) Lloyd Triestino. — From Trieste — Brindisi — Alex-
andria— Jaffa — Haifa and Syrian ports.
Weekly calls.

Agents : A. Mantura, Jaffa ; J. Mantura, Haifa.
{k) Kerr Line. — From New York — Mediterranean ports —
Alexandria — Jaffa — Syrian ports — India, etc.
Monthly calls.
Agents : J. Pascal, Jaffa.
(/) Deutsch-Levant _Linie. — From Germany — Gibraltar —
Malta — Alexandria — Jaffa — Haifa and Syrian ports.
Bi-monthly calls.

Agents : J. Kuebler, Jaffa ; Messrs. Kirchner & Co.,
Haifa.
(m) Affreteurs Reunis. — From Marseilles — Alexandria —
Jaffa and Syrian ports.
Weekly calls.

Agents : M. Dizengoff, Jaffa.
{n) Deutsch-Orient Line. — From Stettin — Malta — Alex-
andria— Jaffa — Haifa and Syrian ports.
Bi-monthly calls.

Agents : J. Aberle, Jaffa ; Messrs. Kirchner & Co.,
Haifa.
There are also the following services from Europe to
Alexandria and Port-Said :

(a) Anchor Line. — Monthly. From Liverpool — Mar-
seilles— Port-Said-

ROUTES TO PALESTINE 115

(6) Bibby Line. — Bi-monthly. From Liverpool — Mar-
seilles— Port-Said .
10% rebate for Government Officials.

{d) City 6- Hall Lines. — Bi-monthly. From Liverpool
or London — Marseilles — Port-Said.

{e) Lloyd Triestino. — Weekly. From Trieste — Brindisi
— Alexandria.
20% rebate for Government Officials.

(/) Orient Line. — Monthly. From London — Toulon —
Naples — Port-Said.

(g) P. &> O. Mail Steamers. — Weekly. From London —
Marseilles — Port-Said .

[h) P. <sy O. Intermediate Line. — Bi-monthly. From
London — Marseilles — Port-Said .

{i) Rotterdam Lloyd. — Bi-monthly. From Marseilles to
Port-Said.

{j) Union Castle Line. — Monthly. From England —
Marseilles — Port-Said .

{k) Servizi Marittimi. — Weekly — From Genoa — Naples
— Syracuse — Venice — Brindisi — Alexandria.
20% rebate for Government Officials.

(/) Messageries Maritimes. — Bi-monthly. From Mar-
seilles to Alexandria.
20% rebate for Government Officials.

For Coast and Harbour Regulations, see Part V.

§ 3. Inland Communications .

{a) RAILWAYS.

The Sinai Military Railway (Standard Gauge — 4' 8^')
runs from Kantara East on the Suez Canal across the
desert of Sinai to Rafa, the boundary between Egypt
and Palestine. Under arrangements with the British
Army Authorities this line is operated by the Palestine

ii6

THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

Government Railways. The Palestine Government Rail-
ways {cf. also Part V., § ii) are :

(a) Standard Gauge. Rafa to Ludd — Ludd to Haifa —
Rafa to Beersheba — Jaffa to Ludd — Ludd to Jeru-
salem, and all branch lines connecting.

{b) Narrow Gauge (105 cms.). Haifa to Semakh. — Haifa
to Acre — Afule to Nablus — Mesudieh to Tulkeram
— Nasib to Ma'an (Trans-jordania), and all branch
lines connecting.

The Junctions and Branch Lines are as follows :

(«) Standard Gauge :

- Junctions for Beersheba an
joint station with the Sinai
Military Railways.

- Junctions for Sarafend Army
Cantonments.

- Junction for Beit Nabala Quar-
ries.

- Junction for- Jaffa and Jeru-
salem.

- Junction for Petach Tikvah.

- Junction for Nablus and Afule
(Narrow Gauge).

Rafa Station

Sarafend Station

Kafr J inn is

Ludd Station

Ras al-Ain -
Tulkeram Station

en
nd^

[b) Narrow Gauge :
Kilo 4 1 (from Haifa)
Afule "

Kilo 12 (from Afule)

Junction for Acre.
Junction for Nablus and Tul-
keram (Broad Gauge).
Junction for Jenin Army Can-
tonments.
The stations on the lines are :

{a) From Kantara East to Haifa : Romani, al-Abd, Mazar,
al-Arish, Gaber Amir, Rafa, Khan Yunis, Deir
al-Belah, Gaza, Deir Seneid, Mejdel, Esdud, Yebnah,
Rehoboth, Bir Salem, Ludd, Kafr Jinnis, Ras al-Ain,
Kalkilieh, Tulkeram, Khedera, Zicron Jacob,
Athlit, Kafr al-Semir, Haifa.
{b) From Rafa to Jerxisalem : Rafa, Imara, Beersheba,

INLAND COMMUNICATIONS 117

Ramleh, Wadi Surar, Artuf, Deir al-Sheikh, Bittir,
Jerusalem.

(d) From Haifa to Acre : Haifa, Acre Junction, Acre.

(e) From Haifa to Nablus : Haifa, Acre Junction, Tel

al-Shemmam, Afule, Jenin, Arabeh, Sileh, Mes-

udieh, Nablus.

(/) From Haifa to Semakh : Haifa, Acre Junction, Tel

al-Shemmam, Afule, Shutta, Beisan, Jisr al-

Mejammie, Semakh.

There is an excellent service of trains from Egypt to

Palestine daily, connexion with the Egyptian State Railways

being made at Kantara by means of a floating footbridge

across the Suez Canal from Kantara East to Kantara West

Station.

The following are the time-tables of trains, including

Egyptian State Railway connexions :

(i) From Egypt to Kantara West :

Alexandria dep. 3.30 p.m. 1 , ^ ,

T^ , T,r , r ^ ^ Vchange at Benha.

Kantara West arr. 9.56 p.m. j ^

Cairo
Kantara West

Port-Said
Kantara West

Suez
Kantara West

(ii) From Kantara East to Palestine : (^sleeping and Dining Car.)

(Daily except Sundays.)

dep.
arr.

6.15 P.M.
9.56 P.M.

dep.
arr.

6.15 P.M.
7.08 P.M.

dep. 5.00 P.M. 1 , ^ .

^ Vchange at Ismaiha.

arr. 9.56 p.m. | °

[a)
(b)
(c)
id)

TLeave Kantara East - - - - 1.30 a.m.

(Arrive Ludd _ . _ _ _ g ^o a.m.

/Leave Ludd _____ 10.00 a.m.

lArrive Haifa - - - - - 12.45 a.m.

/Leave Ludd _____ 10.01 a.m.

\Arrive Jerusalem ----- 12.25 a.m.

/Leave Ludd _____ 10.02 a.m.

1 Arrive Jaffa _ _ _ _ . 10.45 p.m.

ii8

THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

(iii) From Palestine to Kantara East :

{Daily except Sundays.)

(Leave Jaffa ------ 9.00 a.m.

Arrive Ludd - - - - - 9.43 a.m.

/Leave Jerusalem ----- 7.30 a.m.

\Arrive Ludd ----- 9.47 a.m.

TLeave Haifa - - - - - 7.00 a.m.

1 Arrive Ludd 9-45 a.m.

/Leave Ludd _ _ - _ _ 10.15 a.m.

\ Arrive Kantara East - - - - 5.30 p.m.
(iv) From Kantara West to Egypt :
Kantara West dep. 7.15 a.m.
Cairo arr. 10.50 p.m.

Alexandria arr. 5.30 a.m. change at Benha.

Suez arr. 12.00 change at Ismailia.

(a)
ib)
ic)
id)

Kantara West dep. 10.06 p.m.
Port-Said arr. 11.00 p.m.

Through coaches from Jerusalem connect at Ludd with
the Haifa-Kantara train, but passengers from Jaffa have to
change carriage at Ludd.

Berths can be booked at the offices of the International
Sleeping Car Company at Haifa and Cairo, and at the offices
of Messrs. Thos. Cook & Sons, Jerusalem. Berths are
allotted in strict order of application. Passengers may only
take small hand baggage in carriages.

The Customs examination of passengers' hand baggage
inwards is carried out between Rafa and Gaza on board the
train, but outward-bound passengers on reaching Kantara
West station are subject to examination by the Egyptian
Customs Administration, who undertake this duty for the
Egyptian and Palestine Governments.

There are no dining or sleeping cars on the Narrow Gauge,
but a Railway Buffet has been opened at Semakh.

{b) MOTOR-CAR SERVICE.

There are regular services for passengers with a very
limited supply of baggage daily, connecting Jerusalem-Jaffa

INLAND COMMUNICATIONS 119

and Jerusalem-Hebron. There are also motor-bus services,
two or three times daily, connecting Jerusalem-Bethlehem
and Jerusalem-Ramallah. In addition there are large
numbers of cars for hire from Jerusalem to Northern Pales-
tine at varying rates according to the type of car.

Classification of Roads. — During the war the Turks, and
later the British Military Authorities, greatly improved the
existing system of roads, and Palestine now possesses roads
of high order over which motoring is easy.

The roads of Palestine are classified as follows :

{a) ist class, having 5 metres of metalled surface ;

{b) 2nd class, having 3-75 metres of metalled surface ;

metalled and bridged only where necessary) ;

[d) 4th class, unmetalled and unbridged.

1st and 2nd class roads are normally fit for Motor Trans-
port, but 3rd and 4th class may be taken as normally
impassable by Mechanical Transport from ist December to
31st March in ordinary years, excepting during protracted
intervals of fine weather.

Table of Distances. — The following is a list of distances
in kilometres :

(i) 15^ and 2nd class roads :

Jaffa to Ramleh 18-5 — Bab-al-Wad 22-5 — Jerusalem

(Jaffa Gate) 20. — Total 61.
Jaffa to Ludd 20.
Jerusalem (Damascus Gate) to Bethany 45 — to

Jericho 30. — Total 34-5.
Jerusalem (Jaffa Gate) to Solomon's Pools 13-25 — to
Hebron 21 — (2nd class) al-Dhaheriyeh 21 — Beer-
sheba 25-75. — Total 81.
Jerusalem (Jaffa Gate) to Bethlehem 10.
Jerusalem (Post Office) to Railway Station 1-40.
Jerusalem (Post Office) to Government House, Mount
of Olives 4-5.

120 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

Jerusalem (Damascus Gate) to Ramallah 11-50 —
Nablus 50 — Jenin 43^Nazareth 29 5 — Tiberias
335 — Rosh Pina 23-5 — Safed 4-5. — Total 195-5.

Nablus to Tulkeram 29.
^ Nazareth to Haifa 375.

Tiberias to Semakh 1 1 .

(ii) ^rd class roads {dry-weather tracks) :
Beersheba to Rafa 61.
Gaza to Rafa 32.
Gaza to Beersheba 56.
Gaza to Mejdel 25-75.
Mejdel to Babal-Wad 22.
Jaffa to Petach Tikvah 13-5.
Jaffa to Rishon-le-Zion 13-5.

Jaffa to Kalkilieh 25 — Tulkeram 175. — Total 42 5.
Tulkeram to Zichron Jacob 31-5 — Haifa 35. — Total

66-5.
Haifa to Acre 16.
Nazareth to Beisan 38.
Jenin to Beisan 43.

Rule of the Road. — The general rule for all kinds of
vehicles is to keep to the right.

Fast-moving vehicles may take the centre of the road,
except :

(a) when approaching traffic coming from the opposite
direction ;

{b) when about to be overtaken by another vehicle ;

For purposes of this rule motor-cycles are classified as
fast-moving vehicles.

Slow-moving vehicles will always travel on the right-hand
side of the road.

A vehicle or animal overtaken may be passed only on the
left, and on no account between it and the right-hand side
of the road. {Vide Regulations under Road Transport
Ordinance issued ist March, 1922.)

INLAND COMMUNICATIONS 121

Rules as regards Lights. — ^Every vehicle standing or
travelling on any public highway between sunset and
sunrise shall be lighted as follows :

(i) Animal-drawn vehicles shall carry two lights, one in

front on the left or off side and one in rear ;
(ii) bicycles and tricycles shall carry one light in front ;
(iii) trailers shall carry one light in rear ;
(iv) every motor vehicle of four wheels shall carry a white
reflector light on each side of the front part of the
vehicle, and a red light at the left side of the back
part. Every motor vehicle of less than four wheels
shall carry a white light in front and a red light
or a red reflector at the back.
An Ordinance was passed in July, 1921, setting forth the
conditions under which vehicles are licensed.

No vehicle is allowed to be driven on any road until the
owner has obtained a licence to keep such vehicle.

No vehicle having a carrying capacity exceeding three
tons shall be driven on any road.

Driving Licences. — The age-limit for the granting of a
driving licence is 17 years in the case of a car and 14 years
in that of a motor-cycle.

The usual rules apply to Palestine with reference to pro-
duction of driving licence for Police Inspection, stopping
when called upon, endorsement of licence, etc.

Special provisions for Motor Vehicles. — Motor vehicles
must be registered with the Police, who will assign a separate
number to each vehicle.

The cost of a licence for private motor-cars is, for a sitting
capacity of i to 5 persons, /E. 8 per annum, and of 6 to 12
persons, £E. 12 per annum. £E. 1-500 m/ms. per annum is
payable for a motor-cycle, and £E. 2 per annum for motor-
cycle and side-car. The cost of registration is PT. 50 and
PT. 25 respectively.

Foreign Motor Vehicles. — The owner of a motor vehicle
registered abroad, who, being resident abroad, brings such
vehicle into Palestine while on a visit, must comply with

122 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

the rules above mentioned regarding the Hcensing of the
vehicle and the driver, but he is not liable to pay the fees
for a licence unless his stay in Palestine exceeds four months.
No person shall in any circumstances drive a motor
vehicle on a road at a speed exceeding 30 miles per hour,
and the Director of Public Security has powers for making
regulations regarding the maximum speed in any area. In
Jersualem the maximum speed is 15 miles per hour.

{d) TRANSPORT,

The usual means of transport when motor-cars are not
available is by diligences or victorias drawn by two or three
horses, and, in the absence of carriage roads, by donkeys
and camels.

Arab horses are used to some extent, but donkeys are
used largely for conveying tourists to outlying places.
Camels are almost entirely used for the transport of goods.

§4. Accommodation.

The following are the principal hotels and hospices in
Palestine :

Jerusalem. — Hotels : Hotel Allenby (Jaffa Road) ;

Grand New Hotel (inside Jaffa Gate) ; Olivet House

(Hensman's Hotel, near Post Office) ; Central Hotel

(old city) ; S. John's Hotel (old city).
Hospices : Notre Dame de France (opposite New

Gate) ; Casa Nova (New Gate) ; Austrian Hospice ;

German Hospice.
Jericho. — Hotel Belle Vue ; Jordan Hotel.
Jaffa. — Cliff Hotel ; Jerusalem Hotel ; Kaminitz Hotel.
Tel- Aviv. — Herzlia Hotel ; Ben Nahom Hotel ; Barash

Hotel.
Tiberias. — Hotel Tiberias (Grossman's); Tabgha Hospice.
Nazareth. — Galilee Hotel ; Franciscan Hospice.
Haifa. — Hotels : Herzlia Hotel ; Nassar Hotel ; Carmel

Hotel ; New Hotel.

Hospice : Roman Catholic Hospice.

ACCOMMODATION 123

Village Accommodation. — In the villages accommodation
is very scanty, although sometimes it is possible to obtain
a room, but as a rule the traveller has to take with him his
own provisions, cooking appliances and cook. Village rooms
are not recommended, and tents are preferable.

Posts, etc. — See Part V. for information regarding Posts,
Telegraphs and Telephones.

§ 5. Books of Reference.

The volume of literature dealing with Palestine is vast.
Rohricht's Bihliotheca Geographica Palaestinae (Berlin, 1890)
is a catalogue raisonne of the descriptions, manuscript and
printed, of the Holy Land written between the years 333
and 1878 ; and Dr. P. Thomsen's Die Paldstina-Literatur,
of which three volumes have hitherto appeared (in Leipzig),
is a complete bibliography of all works relating to Palestine
from 1895 onwards.

A brief classified list of recent books likely to be most
useful to residents and visitors is given below ; other more
specialized w^orks are noted in those sections of the Handbook
to which they have particular reference.

Guide-Books. — Fr. B. Meistermann, O.F.M., Nouveau
Guide de Terre Sainie, Paris, 1907.

Macmillan's Guide to Palestine and Syria, London, 1908.

Baedeker's Palestine and Syria, Leipzig, 1912.

Professeurs de Notre Dame de France, La Palestine :
Guide Historique et Pratique, Paris, 1912.

H. Pirie-Gordon, Palestine Pocket Guide-Books, 4 vols.,
Jerusalem, 19 18- 19.

General. — A. Goodrich-Freer, Inner Jerusalem, London,

1904.
Vicomte E. M. de Vogiie, Syrie, Palestine, Mont Athos,

Paris, 1905.
D. S. Margoliouth and W. S. Tyrwhitt, Cairo, Jerusalem,

Damascus, London, 1907.
G. L. Bell, The Desert and the Sown, London, 1907.

124 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

Canon J. E. Hanauer, The Folk-Lore of the Holy Land,
London, 1907 ; Walks about Jerusalem, London, 1910.
Comte de Kergorlay, Sites delaisses d'Orient, Paris, 191 1.
L Cohen, Zionist Work in Palestine, London, 191 1.
J. Pulley love and J. Kelman, The Holy Land, new edition,

London, 191 2.
Sir C. Watson, The Story of Jerusalem (Mediaeval Town

Series), London, 1912.
A. Forder, Daily Life in Palestine, London, 191 2.
E. Reynolds-Ball, Jerusalem, London, 1912.
R. Hichens, The Holy Land, London, 1913.
P. J. Baldensperger, The Immovable East, London, 191 3.
N. Bentwich, Palestine of the Jews, London, 1919.
D. Maxwell, The Last Crusade, London, 1920.
C. Diehl, Jerusalem (Les Visites d'Art), Paris, 192 1.
G. N. Whittingham, The Home of Fadeless Splendour,

London, 1921.

Geography, History and Archaeology. — See in general

the Quarterly Statements of the " Palestine Exploration

Fund," also the works, published for the Fund, of Sir

Walter Besant, Bliss and Dickie, Conder, Harper, Hull,

Macalister, Tristram, Sir Charles Wilson and others. The

latest archaeological works of importance are the full and

admirable monographs of the Dominican Fathers Vincent

and Abel of the Ecole Biblique de S. Etienne, Jerusalem,

on Jerusalem, Hebron and Bethlehem (Paris, 1914, 5^^.)-

Marquis deVogiie, Les Eglises de la Terre Sainte, Pa-ris, i860.

G. Le Strange, Palestine under the Moslems, London, 1890.

C. S. Clermont-Ganneau, Archaeological Researches in

Palestine, London, 1896-99.
Sir W. Besant and E. H. Palmer, Jerusalem : The City

of Herod and Saladin, 4th edition, London, 1899.
A, W. Cooke, Palestine in Geography and History, London,

1902.
C. R. Conder, The City of Jerusalem, London, 1909.
Sir G. A. Smith, Historical Geography of the Holy Land,
new edition, London, 1917 ; Jerusalem to yoA.D.,
London, 191 8; Syria and the Holy Land, 'London, 191 8.

BOOKS OF REFERENCE 125

N. Sokolov, History of Zionism, London, 1919.

C. R. Ashbee, Jerusalem, igi8-ig30, London, 1921 (c/.

§ 10 below).
Fiction. — Maurice Hewlett, Richard Yea-and-Nay.
E. S. Stevens, The Mountain of God ; Sarah Eden.
Selma Lagerlof, Jerusalem.
George Moore, The Brook Kerith.
Myriam Harry, La Petite Fille de Jerusalem.
Marmaduke Pickthall, The Valley of the Kings ; The

House of Islam ; Oriental Encounters.

§ 6. Mineral Springs of Palestine.

The Holy Land abounds in mineral springs, as, for in-
stance, at Gadara (east of the Sea of Galilee) and at Hamamim
Sulimani (east of the Dead Sea). Their temperature ranges
between 80° and 140° Fahrenheit. Intensely saline springs
exist along the banks of the Dead Sea, all cathartic and
useful in the cases of liver and other diseases. Especially
celebrated are the hot springs at Tiberias, which, ever since
the Roman occupation, have been renowned for their
curative powers, and in bygone ages were compared with
the famous waters of Baiae.

The present baths at Tiberias were built by Ibrahim
Pasha in 1833 during the Egyptian occupation. Additions
were made in 1890 by the Turkish Government, but the
accommodation is inferior.

The temperature of these springs is about 143° Fahrenheit,
and the waters contain sulphur, chloride of magnesium, and
iron. They are in many respects similar to those of Carlsbad.
The hot springs of 'Tiberias are largely frequented, and
are reputed to cure chronic rheumatism and various skin
diseases.

In Roman times the springs were called Ammaus. Pliny
extolled their excellent properties. Roman villas, temples
and baths surrounded, and Herod's acropolis crowned, the
heights near the thermal baths.

There appear to be two springs, but these are said to have

126 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

a common origin. The water issues at a temperature of
about 150° F. A recent analysis shows the total dissolved
salts to be thirty-two parts per thousand parts of water
(when cold), a proportion equal to that of sea water. The
specific gravity of the water is one thousand and twenty-
three (distilled water =1000). The dissolved salts are
chiefly chlorides of sodium, calcium and magnesium, with
a smaller proportion of sulphates and carbonates. It has
been stated that the water possesses radioactive properties.

§ 7. Weights and Measures.

The metric system is followed by the Government, and
its use regulated by Ordinance, but the local weights and
measures are still commonly employed. These vary
greatly throughout the country, but are, subject to con-
siderable fluctuation, as follows :

{a) LENGTH AND AREA.

I draa or pic ^6^ centimetres — 26 -38 inches. Cloth measure.
I draa =75 centimetres — 29-53 inches. Building and

Land measure.
I donum =1600 sq. pics — 919 sq. metres — 23 acre.

Land measure (4-4 donums to the acre).
(The official donum is 919 sq. metres ; in actual practice
the donum ranges between 900 and 1,000 sq. metres.)

[b) WEIGHTS.

I dirhem =4814 grains — 3 205 grammes.

I okka (oke) =400 dirhems — 1-248 kilogrammes —

2-751 lbs.

I kantar (South) =100 rotls — 225 okkas — 288 kilo-
grammes— 634 lbs.

I kantar (North) =100 rotls — 200 okkas — 256 kilo-
grammes— 564 lbs.

I rotl (South) =12 okkiahs — 2-25 okkas — 900 dirhems —
2-88 kilogrammes — 6-34 lbs.

I rotl (North) =12 okkiahs — 2 okkas — 800 dirhems — -
2-56 kilogrammes — 5-64 lbs,

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

127

(wheat) I tabbeh (South) =2 midd — 4 sa'a — 8 ruba'ia

— 23 kilos — 50 -6 lbs.
(barley) i tabbeh (South) =16 okkas— 20 kilo-

grammes— 44 lbs.
I Galilee kail (North) =50 okkas — 62 4 kilo-
grammes— 137-28 lbs.
I jarra (oil measure) =16 okkas — 22 litres — 20-2

kilogrammes (olive oil).

Comparative List of Weights and Measures used in
Tithes Estimation in Palestine. — Jerusalem, Hebron,
Ramallah and Nablus use the tabbeh and kail as the unit.
All other Districts and Sub-Districts use the kail as the unit.

Jerusalem.

tabbeh of wheat

= 8 rotls =

= 23 kilos.

kail of barley

= 7 .. =21 „

Hebron.

tabbeh of wheat

= 9 „ =28 „

kail of barley

= 6^ ,, =20-22 kilos.

Nablus.

tabbeh of wheat

= 1333 rotls =40 kilos

,, of barley

= io-66 ,, =32 ,,

of durra

= 12

= 36 ..

of lentils

= 13-33 >

= 40 „

of beans

= 1333 .

= 40 ..

of sesame

= 9.75 .

= 29 „

of chickpeas

= 1333 .

= 40 »

of kersaneh

= 1375 ,

= 40 ,.

Haifa.

kail of wheat

= 28 5 rotls =64 kilos.

,, of barley

= 18 ., =45 ..

,, of durra

= 285 „ =64 ,.

,, of lentils

= 285 „ =64 ,,

,, of beans

= 28-5 „ =64 „

,, of sesame

= 36 okkas =45 .,

Shefa Amr.

kail of wheat

= 80 kilos.

,, of barley

55 ..

,, of sesame

= 44 okkas.

Acre and

kail of wheat

= 28 '5 rotls =72 kilos.

Marj .

,, of barley

= 20 „

= 50 ,.

128 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

Acre and

kail of durra

= 72 kilos.

Marj .

,, of lentils

= 72 „

,, of sesame

= 40 okkas =50 kilos.

Nazareth.

kail of wheat

= 12 sa'a =6 midd

= 24 rubieh =48 tumnieh

= 75 kilos.

,, of barley

= 12 sa'a =6 midd

= 24 rubieh =48 tumnieh

= 50 kilos.

,, of durra

= 70 ,. J

,, of lentils

= 75 ,. %

,, of beans

= 12 sa'a =6 midd

= 24 rubieh =48 tumnieh

= 75 kilos.

,, of sesame

= 50 ..

,, of kersaneh

= 12 sa'a =6 midd

= 24 rubieh =48 tumnieh

= 75 kilos.

Safed.

kail of wheat, kersaneh, lentils, peas and beans

= 78 kilos.

,, of barley

]- ■■

and

,, of sssame

,, of durra

and

•=73 ..

olives

Jaffa.

kail of wheat

= 27-30 kilos.

,, of barley

= 18-20 „

,, of durra

= 25-27 „ 1

,, of lentils

= 28-30 „ i

,, of beans

= 28-30 „ 1

,, of sesame

= 12-16 „ ^

,, of lupine

= 27-28 „

,, of chickpeas

= 28-30 ,,

,, of kersaneh

= 28-30 ,,

Gaza.

kail of wlieat

= 1 43 mashaa

= 1-46 sa'a =30 kilos,

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

129

Gaza. I kail of barley =i"5o mashaa

=;i-35 sa'a =20 kilos.
I ,, of durra =i*43 mashaa

= 1-45 sa'a =30 kilos.
Beersheba. i kail of wheat =22-5 okkas = 10 rotls

= 30 kilos.
I ,, of barley =15-78 okkas = 7 rotls

= 21 kilos.
I ,, of lentils =22-5 okkas = 10 rotls

= 30 kilos.
I ,, of beans =22-5 okkas =10 rotls

= 30 kilos.
The figures are only approximate, as the relationships
vary in the Districts themselves.

Olives and Olive Oil. — In Nazareth olives are measured
by the kail, which equals 70 kilos. In Jerusalem, Jaffa and
Hebron they are measured by weight.

Olive oil is reckoned in Jerusalem and Jaffa by the jarra,
which equals 6 rotls or 17-500 kilos. In Nazareth it is
measured by the rotl, which equals 2 okkas or 2| kilos.
Currency. — For currency, see Part V., § 3.
Time. — The time adopted in Palestine is Eastern Euro-
pean time, which is two hours later than Greenwich.

§ 8. Table of Sunrise and Sunset in Palestine.

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Sunrise.

Sunset

A.M.

P.M.

6.50

4-38

6.31

4-57

6.03

5-25

5-28

6.00

4-58

6.30

4-35

6.53

4-32

6.46

4-49

6.39

5-i8

6.10

5-51

5-37

6.24

5-04

6.46

4.42

I30 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

9. Festivals.^

The Great Feast of the year with the Moslems is that of
the Sacrifice {'Id al-Adha ; the Turkish Qurban Bairam),
celebrated on the tenth day of the Pilgrimage Month.
Among the Beduin a camel, if possible, is sacrificed ; else-
where a sheep or goat. Scarcely less popular is that which
is celebrated on the first day of the month Shawwal, which
follows the fasting month of Ramazan ; this is kept with
enthusiasm even among tribes which neglect the fast.
Among the Beduin an animal is slaughtered in every tent
whose owners can afford the expense ; poorer families club
together to provide one. In the towns and villages the
people wear new clothes, and spend part of the day visiting
the graves of their relations. The Christian Easter attracts
great numbers of pilgrims to Jerusalem, chiefly for the
purpose of witnessing the sacred fire issue from the Holy
Sepulchre on Easter Eve ; the notion that this is mira-
culous, which was long believed, is now scarcely main-
tained. About the same time as the Christian Holy Week
the Moslems of Jerusalem and the neighbourhood celebrate
the Feast of the Prophet Moses (Nebi Musa), which lasts
seven days. It is largely attended by the fellahin, who, in
the course of it, visit the supposed tomb of Moses, which
Moslem tradition places about an hour and a half south-
west of Jericho. On the first day of this feast a religious
service is held in the Haram al-Sherif in Jerusalem, atten/ded
by the chief functionaries ; after its conclusion the pro-
cession starts for the tomb. The chief Feast of the Jews
and Samaritans — the Passover — is celebrated about the
same time. Many of the local saints, Moslem, Christian,
and Jewish, have yearly feast-days, when their tombs are
visited by the devout. A popular local feast among the
Moslems is that of Nebi Saleh, celebrated at Ramleh one
week after the return of the pilgrims from Nebi Musa.

1 Cf. also Part VII., §§ i and 2.

THE PRO-JERUSALEM SOCIETY 131

§ 10, The Pro- Jerusalem Society.

The Pro- Jerusalem Society was founded in 191 8 for the
following objects :

(i) the protection of and the addition to the amenities

of Jerusalem and its neighbourhood ;
(ii) the provision and maintenance of parks, gardens, and

open spaces in and around Jerusalem ;
(iii) the establishment of museums, libraries, art galleries,
exhibitions, musical and dramatic centres or other
institutions of a similar nature for the benefit of
the public ;
(iv) the protection and preservation, with the consent of
the Government, of antiquities in and around
Jerusalem ;
(v) the encouragement of arts, handicrafts and indus-
tries.
The Honorary President of the Society is the High Com-
missioner, and the President is the Governor of Jerusalem.
The Council, which meets once a month, has as an Honorary
Member Lord Milner and numbers amongst its other mem-
bers the Mayor of Jerusalem, the Grand Mufti, the Orthodox,
Latin and Armenian Patriarchs, the Anglican Bishop, the
Chief Rabbi, the President of the Jewish lay community,
representatives of the Dominican and Franciscan Convents,
of the Department of Antiquities, etc.

Amongst the achievements of the Society are the freeing
and completion of the Rampart Walk, whereby it is now
possible, for the first time for several hundreds of years, to
" Walk about Sion and go round about the towers thereof ;
mark well her bulwarks."

Others include the establishment, on the ancient tradi-
tional basis, of a tile and pottery factory, one of whose first
tasks will be to cover with new tiles the bare spaces on the
Mosque of the Dome of the Rock ; the Jerusalem Looms —
handlooms upon which fabrics for everyday use are woven
by Palestinians for Palestinians out of Palestinian materials ;

132 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

the restoration of the Citadel and Tower of David, in which
an Academy of Fine Arts was held in 192 1 by the Society
and an exhibition of Palestinian products by the Govern-
ment in 1922 ; the design of a Jewish market on the Jaffa
Road and of a khan shortly (it is hoped) to be erected in
place of the present unsightly buildings near the Damascus
Gate ; the revival of the Hebron glass industry.

In 1921 the Council of the Society published through Mr.
John Murray its first volume -of Annals in a handsomely
illustrated quarto volume with the title Jerusalem, igiS-
IQ20 : Being the Records of the Pro- Jerusalem Council during
the British Military Administration. The Society also issues
a Quarterly Bulletin, printed in Jerusalem.

The High Commissioner has been pleased to "grant to the
Society its Charter and to make an arrangement whereby
the Government contributes a subvention at the rate of ;^i
for £1 for all monies collected or earned by the Society.

Donations to the Pro-Jerusalem Society, or membership
subscriptions (;^E. 5 per annum) entitling the subscriber to
the Annals and other publications of the Society, may be
addressed to any of the following :

The Governor of Jerusalem ;
The Civic Adviser (Governorate, Jerusalem) ;
Mr. John Whiting, Hon. Treasurer of the Pro-
Jerusalem Society (American Colony
Store, Jerusalem) ; a

Mr. D. G. Salameh (Messrs. Thomas Cook & ■
Son, Jerusalem).

PART V.

GOVERNMENT AND GOVERNMENT
ACTIVITIES.

§ I. System of Administration.

High Commissioner. — Under the Palestine Order in
Council, His Majesty may, by a Commission under his
Sign Manual and Signet, appoint a fit person to administer
the Government of Palestine under the designation of High
Commissioner and Commander-in-Chief.

Chief Secretary. — The Chief Secretary is the High Com-
missioner's principal adviser on administrative matters, and
is the usual channel of communication between the High
Commissioner and other officials. He normally administers
the Government during the absence from Palestine of the
High Commissioner.

Appointment of OfRcers. — The High Commissioner may,
subject to the direction of the Secretary of State, appoint
or authorize the appointment of such public ofiicers of the
Government of Palestine under such designations as he may
think fit, and may prescribe their duties ; and all such
public officers, unless otherwise provided by law, shall hold
their ofiices during the pleasure of the High Commissioner.

Attorney- General.— The Attorney-General is the legal
adviser of the Government. He drafts all Government
bills and gives the necessary instructions to the Solicitor-
General in all criminal cases tried on information.

133

134 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

■

Autonomous Sanjaq of Jerusalem

Treasurer. — The Treasurer is the chief accounting officer
of the Government, whose financial and accounting
operations are under his general management and super-
vision.

Districts. — At the end of the period of Turkish rule
Palestine lay, administratively speaking, partly in the
autonomous ^ Sanjaq (Liwa, Mutesarriflik) of Jerusalem,
partly in the Vilayet of Beirut. Its administrative divisions
were as follows :

Qazas.

Jerusalem.
Jaffa.
Hebron.
Gaza.
I^Beersheba.

Acre.

Sanjaq of Acre (in Vilayet of c^ . .'
T^ . ,. ^ { Safed.

^'''™*) Nazareth.^

VTiberias.

Sanjaq of Nablus (in Vilayet of t •

B t^ 1 J®^^"-

' [Tulkeram.

Each Qaza was administered by a Qaimaqam, who was
responsible to the Mutesarrif. The Qazas were sub-divided
into Nahiehs, under officials known as Mudirs ; and the
smallest unit in this symmetrical administrative organi-
zation was the village, ruled by its Mukhtar (headman) and
his Azas (elders).

From 1920 to 1922 the country was divided into the seven
Districts of Jerusalem, Jaffa, Phoenicia, Galilee, Samaria,
Gaza and Beersheba, each of which, with the exception
of Beersheba, was farther divided into sub-Districts.
On the ist July, 1922, there was effected an amalgamation

' I.e. not a part of any Vilayet, but subject immediately to Constantinople.

^ From 1906 to 1908 the Qaza of Nazareth was included in the Sanjaq of
Jerusalem.

SYSTEM OF ADMINISTRATION

135

of Districts into four Pro^
divisions are now as follows

Province.

Jerusalem and Jaffa

vinces, and the

administrative

Districts.

Sub-Districts.

'Jerusalem.
Ramallah.

f Jerusalem.

Bethlehem.

[jaffa.

Jericho.
Jaffa.
.Ramleh.

Haifa.

Acre.

J Phoenicia,
loalilee.

Zummarin.

Nazareth.

Tiberias.

.Safed.

Nablus.

Jenin.

Tulkeram.

Beisan.

Gaza.

rOaza.

\ Beersheba.

Mejdel.
Beersheba.

Hebron.

Northern Province

Samaria -

Southern Province -

Governors. — The Governor is for most purposes the head
of all executive departments in his Province. The cele-
bration of marriages of British subjects in Palestine is
conducted under the Foreign Marriages Act, the Governor
being the Marriage Officer within his Province.

Mukhtars. — Under the Governors and District Officers
are the Mukhtars, or headmen of villages. Their powers
and duties have not yet been codified, but included among
them are :

(a) to keep the peace within the village ;

(b) to send information to the nearest Police Station of any

serious offence or accident occurring in the village ;

revenue :

136 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

(d) to publish in the village any Public Notices or Pro-

clamations sent to them by the Governors ;

(e) to keep a register of all births and deaths within the

village, and to send a copy to the Principal Medical
Officer once a quarter. ,
Principal Departments. — The principal Departments of
the Government of Palestine, besides those already men-
tioned, are the Departments of : Agriculture and Fisheries
(including Veterinary and Forests) ; Antiquities ; Customs
(including Ports and Lights) ; Commerce and Industry
(including Stores) ; Education ; Public Health ; Land Regis-
tration ; Public Security (including Gendarmerie) ; Posts,
Telegraphs and Telephones ; Public Works ; and Railways.
Executive Council. — There will be, for the purpose of
assisting the High Commissioner, an Executive Council
consisting of the Chief Secretary, the Attorney-General
and the Treasurer, who shall be styled ex officio members,
and such other persons holding offices in the public
service of Palestine as the High Commissioner may appoint.
Whenever upon any special occasion the High Commis-
sioner desires to obtain the advice of any persons within
Palestine, they may be summoned for such special occasions.
Legislative Council. — There will be a Legislative Council
consisting of 22 members in addition to the High Commis-
sioner, of whom 10 shall be official and 12 unofficial.

The unofficial members will be elected in accordance with
such Order in Council, Ordinance or other legislative enact-
ment as may from time to time provide for elections to
the Council.

The Legislative Council will have full power and
authority, without prejudice to the powers inherent in,
or reserved by this Order to. His Majesty, and subject
always to any conditions and limitations prescribed by any
instructions under the Sign Manual and Signet, to establish
such Ordinances as may be necessary for the peace, order
and good government of Palestine, provided that no Ordi-
nance shall be passed which shall restrict complete freedom
of conscience and the free exercise of all forms of worship,

SYSTEM OF ADMINISTRATION T37

save in so far as is required for the maintenance of public
order and morals ; or which shall tend to discriminate in
any way between the inhabitants of Palestine on the ground
of race, religion or language.

§ 2. Administration of Justice.

Law. — The criminal, civil and administrative law of
Palestine is Ottoman Law except in so far as it has been
modified or altered by Ordinance of the Palestine Govern-
ment.

Turkish Courts. — Under the Ottoman Government a
Court of First Instance composed of three judges was
established in each Qaza, and a Court of Appeal, composed
of five or more members, in each Sanjaq. In Palestine
there were thirteen Courts of First Instance and three Courts
of Appeal. In addition single judges, or Justices of Peace,
were appointed in the principal towns, their jurisdiction
being laid down in a law passed in 191 3.

O.E.T.A. — The Administration of Justice during the two
and a half years of Military Occupation was controlled by
a British official known as the Senior Judicial Officer, who,
on the one hand, took the place of the Ottoman Ministry
of Justice, and exercised administrative control over all the
Courts and Land Registries that had been established by
the Military Authorities, and, on the other hand, acted as
Legal Adviser to the Chief Administrator and the different
Departments of the Administration.

Civil Administration. — The establishment of the Civil
Administration in July, 1920, did not involve any large
change in the administration of justice.

The Senior Judicial Officer of the Military Administration
became the Legal Secretary of the Civil Administration, and
continued his former functions of

(a) advising the Government on legal matters ;

{b) acting as a responsible Minister of Justice ;
in addition he was entrusted with the general supervision
of the Land Registries, cadastral surveys, and questions

138 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

concerning land. In July, 1922, the post of Legal Secretary
was abolished and that of Attorney-General substituted.

Court of Appeal. — The Court of Appeal is presided over
by the Chief Justice of Palestine, and includes a British
Vice-President and four Palestinian members. Sitting as
a Court of Appeal, the Court has jurisdiction, subject to
the provisions of any Ordinance, to hear appeals from all
judgments given by a District Court in First Instance or
by the Court of Criminal Assize or by a Land Court.
Sitting as a High Court of Justice, it has jurisdiction to hear
and determine such matters as are not causes or trials, but
petitions or applications not within the jurisdiction of any
other Court.

In civil matters, when the amount of value in dispute
exceeds ^E. 500, an appeal lies to the Privy Council.

District Courts. — There are four District Courts, namely :
the Court of Jerusalem, serving the Jerusalem District ; the
Court of Jaffa, serving the Districts of Jaffa and Gaza ; the
Court of Phoenicia, sitting at Haifa and serving the District
of Phoenicia ; and the Court of Samaria and Galilee. Each
Court consists of a British Judge and two Palestinian
members.

District Courts exercise jurisdiction

(i) as a Court of First Instance :

(a) in all Civil matters not within the jurisdiction of
the Magistrates' Courts in and for that District ;
(6) in all criminal matters which are not within the
jurisdiction of the said Magistrates' Courts or the
Court of Criminal Assize ;

(2) as an Appellate Court from the said Magistrates'
Courts, subject to the provision of any Ordinances
or Rules.

In commercial cases the President of a District Court
may appoint two persons of commercial experience to sit
with him in lieu of the other members of the Court.
Such persons so appointed are judges of fact and not of
law.

ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE 139

Magistrates' Courts. — There are Magistrates' Courts in
each Sub-District having competence in civil suits where
the value of the subject-matter does not exceed £E. 100,
and in criminal cases where the maximum penalty is one
year's imprisonment.

Magisterial "Warrants. — Governors and certain District
Officers are given magisterial powers, in virtue of which
they can try minor offences under the Penal Code and con-
traventions of the Ordinances issued by the Administration,
and can pass sentences up to six months' imprisonment.

Capitulations. — The Capitulations are abolished as
regards Palestine by Art. 8 of the Manda,te. Citizens of
the United States have, however, the right to be tried in
criminal cases before their Consul.

Tribal Courts. — The High Commissioner may establish
Tribal Courts for the District of Beersheba and in such
other tribal areas as he may think fit. Such Courts may
apply tribal custom, so far as it is not repugnant to
natural justice or morality. Accordingly, in the District
of Beersheba, which is inhabited almost entirely by
Beduin tribes, there is, besides a Civil Magistrate, a Court
composed of the leading Sheikhs, which deals with minor
offences and tribal disputes ; a British Judge from Jerusalem
tries the more serious criminal cases when they occur, and
hears appeals from the judgments of the Sheikhs' Tribunal
and also from the Civil Magistrate.

Blood Feud Commissions. — In those parts of Palestine
inhabited principally by Beduin, ancient local custom
recognizes the authority of Blood Feud Commissions, com-
posed of leading and trusted Sheikhs and Notables of the
region in question, to settle the blood feud by the payment
of blood-money {diyet), so that the feud may not develop
into an ' interminable vendetta. The preliminary of the
agreement is a truce {atwa), arranged between the families
of the murdered and the murderer, the family of the mur-
dered producing a guarantor {kafil), who pledges that it will
not attack the family of the murderer during the time the
atwa is in force.

I40 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

When the final arrangements for the peace-making {tiba)
are made, the family of the murderer visit the injured
family, pay the diyet, whereupon the murderer is produced
and pardoned.

Languages of Pleadings. — Arabic is the normal language
of pleading in the Magistrates' Courts. Summonses and
other legal processes are issued in English and Hebrew
according to the character of the person to whom they are
addressed. In certain areas, called " tri-lirigual areas,"
official documents are written, and oral pleadings are con-
ducted, in any of the three official languages. The tri-lingual
areas, in which, Hebrew and English may be used, comprise
the three principal towns of Palestine, namely : Jerusalem,
Haifa and Jaffa, and also the District of Jaffa and the
sub-districts of Tiberias and Safed.

Municipal Benches. — Honorary Municipal Magistrates
have been appointed with power to deal with contraventions
of Municipal by-laws and Government regulations, and with
authority of imposing penalties not exceeding £^.5 or
imprisonment not exceeding 15 days.

Land Courts. — Special Courts have been established for
hearing actions concerning the ownership of land and also
for settling the title to immovable property. The Ottoman
restrictions against foreigners and corporations holding land
have been repealed.

Moslem Religious Courts. — The Moslem Religious Courts
have exclusive jurisdiction in matters of personal status of
Moslems and Moslem waqfs.

Under the Turkish Government there were Sharia Courts,
each presided over by a Qadi, in Jerusalem, Jaffa, Hebron,
Gaza, Beersheba, Ramleh, Nablus, Jenin, Tulkeram,
Nazareth, Tiberias, Safed, Acre and Haifa. These Courts
have been maintained. The Sharia Courts deal with
matters of Moslem personal status (marriage, divorce,
inheritance, intestacy, constitution of waqf and the like),
and in addition to their contentious work deal with a large
amount of non-contentious business.

There are Muftis (elective Moslem jurisconsults, whose

ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE 141

duty it is to issue, in the form of a fetwa, canonical rulings
on points of Moslem religious law) of the Hanafi rite in the
above-mentioned fourteen towns, and a Mufti of the Shafi
rite in Jerusalem.

There is an appeal from the Sharia Courts to the Moslem
Religious Court of Appeal, sitting in Jerusalem and con-
sisting of a President and two members. An Inspector
visits the Sharia Courts of the country and reports upon
their work.

Non-Moslem Religious Courts. — The non-Moslem Com-
munities exercise jurisdiction in matters of marriage, divorce
anci alimony, and inheritance over the members of their
community, and the judgments given by their religious
courts in these matters are executed through the Execution
Office of the Civil Courts.

The Courts of Christian Communities have :
(i) exclusive jurisdiction in matters of marriage and
divorce, ahmony, execution and confirmation of
wills of Palestinian members of the Community ;
(ii) exclusive jurisdiction in any other matters of per-
sonal status of such persons, where all the parties
to the action consent to their jurisdiction ;
(iii) exclusive jurisdiction over any case concerning the
constitution or internal administration of a waqf
constituted before the Religious Court according
to the religious law of the community.
A Rabbinical Council composed of two Chief Rabbis — one
for the Sephardic and one for the Ashkenazic communities —
and six Rabbinical members together with two lay Coun-
cillors, was elected in February, 192 1. This Council, which
constitutes a Court of Appeal from the Rabbinical Courts
of the Jewish Communities in the towns and villages, is
recognized by the Government as the sole Rabbinical
authority.

The Rabbinical Courts have :
(i) exclusive jurisdiction in matters of marriage and
divorce, alimony, execution and confirmation of
wills of Jewish Palestinian subjects ;

142 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

(ii) jurisdiction in any other matter of personal status
of Jewish persons, where all the parties to the
action consent to their jurisdiction ;
(iii) exclusive jurisdiction over any case as to the con-
stitution or internal administration of a waqf con-
stituted before the Rabbinical Court according to
Jewish Law.
Under the Turkish regime the registration of marriages
and divorces was carried out by the Census Office {Nufus).
Under the British Administration the registration is carried
out by the religious authority which celebrates the marriage,
a copy of the certificate being sent to the Governor, who
keeps a register of all marriages and divorces in his Province.
For the Moslems mazuns (registrars) have been appointed
in each District by the Qadis, who are alone qualified to
celebrate and register marriages. For the Christians the
Patriarchates and for the Jews the Rabbinical Council, are
responsible.

Advocates. — The number of advocates admitted in
Palestine at the beginning of 1922 was as follows :
52 licensed before the Civil Courts alone,
51 before both Civil and Sharia Courts,
29 before the Sharia Courts alone.
Law Classes. — In response to a widespread desire for
legal training, Law Classes were opened in Jerusalem in
November, 1920, and are now attended by 150 students.
Lectures are given in English, Arabic and Hebrew. The
courses are of three years, at the end of which period a
student who obtains a diploma in all subjects will be
entitled to a licence as an advocate, after serving for a
certain period with a qualified lawyer.

Registration of Companies, Co-operative Societies and
Partnerships. — When the Civil Administration was estab-
lished immediate measures were taken to encourage cor-
porate enterprise, and two Ordinances were published
A^ith :

(i) Co-operative Societies ;
(2) Companies with limited liability.

ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE 143

The first was based upon the Indian Law on the matter,
the second on the British ConsoHdated Statute of 1907, with
the introduction of considerable simphfications. The regis-
tration is carried out by the Courts. During 192 1, 24 Hmited
liabiHty Companies were incorporated in Palestine with an
authorized capital of £K. 850,000. 14 foreign companies and
32 commercial partnerships were registered in Jerusalem
alone and 14 co-operative societies were incorporated.

Eegistration of Trade Marks and Patents. — The regis-
tration of Patents and Trade Marks is also carried out at
the Courts.

Legislation. — Since the establishment of the Civil Admin-
istration an abnormal amount of legislation has necessarily
been called for, and Ordinances have been passed by the
Advisory Council dealing with the following subjects :
immigration ; advertisements ; passports ; immovable
property ; land law ; land transfer ; forestry ; fisheries ;
antiquities ; credit banks ; prevention of crimes ; town
planning ; port dues ; police ; local councils ; land courts ;
rents ; survey ; road transport ; pharmacists ; notaries
public ; Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem ; tobacco
taxation ; collective responsibility for crime ; etc.

Court Cases. — The following table shows the number of
cases tried by the various Courts in Palestine in 1921 :
Court of Appeal and District Courts :
^ Civil — First Instance - - - - 644

Criminal — First Instance - - - 698

Civil — Appeal ----- 1,038

Criminal — Appeal - - _ - g^^

Magistrates' Courts :

Civil ------- 18,197

Criminal - - - - - - 16,119

Moslem Religious Court of Appeal - 268

Sharia Courts 3, 811

Land Courts - - - - - 137

Municipal Courts - - _ - 389

The fees received by all Courts in Palestine in the year
192 1 amounted to £E. 55,380.

144 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

§ 3. Finance, Currency and Banking.

{a) FINANCE.

Taxation and Revenue. — The present Administration
has maintained the Ottoman Government's system of
taxation, in some cases modifying the taxes levied, in
others abpHshing the more vexatious and oppressive.
Ottoman taxation embraces a peculiarity which does not
^xist in other countries. A number of lucrative and
important imposts are collected by the Administration of
the Ottoman Public Debt (O.P.D.A.), the receipts appearing
in the State accounts but being retained by the Debt. Any
balance, which may exist after the amounts due to the
bondholders have been set aside, are distributed in varying
proportions between the State and the O.P.D.A. Thus
there are two revenue collecting agencies operating side by
side, but the Revenue Department exercises a general
supervision over the Debt Agencies, who look to their head-
quarters in Constantinople for administrative orders.

The principal taxes and other sources of revenue in
Palestine are :

1. Customs — including import duties, specific and ad
valorem (for details and exemptions, see later).

2. Port Dues — {vide Port Dues Ordinance, 192 1).
(i) Port Dues are payable at the following rates :

On the tonnage up to 500 tons, 5 milliemes per

registered ton ;
Over 500 and up to 1000 tons, 3 milliemes ; and
Over 1000 tons, 2 milliemes per registered ton.
The maximum due payable on any vessel is £&. 20, but
if a vessel has paid dues at one port in Palestine, half only
of the dues, with a maximum of £R. 10, shall be payable
at any other port in Palestine. In the case of a vessel
arriving and leaving without taking or discharging cargo,
or passengers, only one-half of the due shall be charged.

(ii) A fee of PT. 15 is charged for the measurement of a
vessel.

FINANCE, CURRENCY AND BANKING 145

(iii) The following vessels are exempt from the dues :

(a) Men of War ;

(/5) Vessels in distress or making use of the port as a port
of refuge ;

(y) Vessels, tugs, lighters' pontoons and launches plying
exclusively in any or between ports of Palestine,
which pay the dues mentioned below ;

(S) Yachts belonging to recognized Yacht Clubs- and
wholly in ballast.

(iv) All Port Dues are payable at the office of Ports and
Lights, and a clearance certificate is obtainable at a fee of
PT. 5.

(v) The following Palestinian vessels shall be registered
and pay the following annual rates :

(a) Sailing, steam or motor vessels, steam
or motor launches, and vessels of a
similar nature _ _ _ _ ^E. 4 p. a.

(y(3) Steam or motor lighters - - - £'E. 2 p. a.

(y) Sailing or man-handled lighters - £R. i p. a.

(S) Boats - - - - - - .^E. I p.a.

(vi) Boatmen, fishermen, lightermen, stevedores, ship-
chandlers, hotel representatives, etc., are licensed for a fee
of 300 milliemes per annum, and any other person whose
occupation or profession brings him within the enclosure of
a Palestinian port pays a fee of 200 milliemes per a"nnum.

(vii) A fee of 15 milliemes is payable for each policeman
placed on board a vessel for any period up to 12 hours.

Quarantine Dues. — For fees, see Regulations for Quaran-
tine Services.

3. Licences, Excise and Internal Revenue not otherwise
classified.—

(i) Tithe (Ushur). — The system of tithe dates from earliest
times. Originally one- tenth of the crop was taken in kind.
Ottoman legislation, through financial necessity, has in-
creased this rate to one-eighth or 12^%, viz. i|% by Decree
of 1302 (1886) and 1% by Decree of 13 13 (1897). Tithes
were farmed out to contractors at the time of the British

L,P. K

146 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

Occupation, and were often a source of abuse and imposition
upon the peasantry.

Since the Occupation the system of tithing has been con-
tinued, but the contractor has been ehminated, and direct
assessment and collection of tithes inaugurated. The tithe
of one-eighth, formerly taken in kind, is now collected in
money, and assessed in kilogrammes. The list of prices is
fixed and a statement of assessment is posted in each village.
Appeals against the redemption price are heard by a special
committee, whose decision is final. Such appeals must be
lodged within ten days from the publication of the redemp-
tion price.

Redemption prices are fixed by the Department of
Revenue after consultation with Governors, who, in turn,
obtain the opinions of local councils, mukhtars, notables,
big farmers, etc., fixing the redemption price slightly below
the local market price.

Comparison of Redemption Prices :

1919

1920

1921

PT.

Wheat per kilo

2-2

2-25

1-4

Barley

1-2

1-3

Durra

1-2

075

Simsin ,,

- 4-8

3-2

Oranges per case -

- 12

Olive oil per kilo

- 12

The collection of the redemption price is not made from
each individual cultivator, but from the mukhtar, who
undertakes to collect the entire amount due from his village
against a rebate of 2% of the amount collected. The
amount may be settled in three monthly and equal instal-
ments. Arrears due after this period are subject to 9%
interest.

Tithe is taken on cereals, fruits, and vegetables. The
produce of mulk lands, which are of the freehold category,
is exempted when enclosed to the extent of less than one
donum. Other mulk lands in the vicinity of towns also

FINANCE, CURRENCY AND BANKING 147

enjoy immunity from tithe, but they are subject to a higher
rate for land tax, i.e. 10 per mille, with additions amounting
to 56% of the original tax.

Seasonal variations in crops necessitate two separate
annual assessments, the first, during the months of April,
May and June, known as the " Winter Tithe," and the
second, during July and August, known as the " Summer
Tithe." Separate estimations are carried out on fruits and
vegetables.

An estimating commission is composed of two Government
representatives, a clerk and a village elder, the two former
being salaried officials of the Government. Control is
exercised by special control commissions, which are again
further controlled by officials of the District Adminis-
tration.

The estimation of crops is carried out in some instances
by assessing the standing crops ; in others, crops are
assessed on the thrashing floor, the choice of either method
being left to the Governors' discretion.

The assessment for tithe amounted in 1919 to ^E. 273,000,
in 1920 to £E. 488,600, and in 1921 to £E. 292,000.

The above figures include tithes which are assigned to
Moslem religious endowments [awqaf).

The Government continues to carry out the provisions of
the Ottoman Tithe Laws of 1889 and 1891, which in so far
as the theory of tithing is concerned are adequate. Vine-
yards planted with American stock are exempted from
tithes for a period of ten years from the date of planting
(Public Notice of the 25th September, 1920).

Cotton is exempted from the payment of tithe for a period
of two years (Public Notice of the 15th February, 1921).
Lands which are leased by or through the Department of
Agriculture for crop experimentation are immune from the
payment of tithe.

(ii) Animal Tax {aghnam). — During the months of
February and March the following animals are enumerated
by tax-collectors, and are taxed per head : Sheep, PT. 48;
Goats, 4-8 ; Camels, 12 ; Buffaloes, 12 ; Pigs, 9.

148 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

Camels used solely for the purpose of ploughing are
exempted from this tax by a decision of the High Com-
missioner, dated the 4th March, 192 1.

(iii) Immovable Property Tax {Werko). — All property,
whether built upon or otherwise, is subject to a tax varying
according to the nature of the property of from 4 per mille
to 10 per mille of the capital value as ascertained by assess-
ment commissions. The valuation of property in Palestine
was carried out some 25 years ago, and is, therefore, an
obsolete assessment. It is grossly inaccurate and under-
valued. The Ottoman authorities, aware of the annual loss
in revenue through this cause, endeavoured to remedy it
by increasing the rates of taxation by arbitrary additions,
which at the outbreak of war were 56% in the case of land,
and 51% in the case of building property. These additions
are maintained, but the increase in the value of property
since the war makes a new valuation of all immovable
property a matter of necessity in the near future. This
especially applies to building property in the towns of
Jerusalem, Jaffa and Haifa, where the annual value has
increased in some cases by 300% On properties being
transferred or conveyed new assessments are made and
inserted in the registers.

(iv) Wine and Spirit Licences and Excise Duties. — The
licence for the sale of wines and spirits is applicable to
hotels, clubs, shops, restaurants, cafes or any places where
alcoholic beverages are sold in open measure. The licensing
fee is calculated upon the rental value of the space utilized
for sale or drinking purposes, and varies from 8-^% to 25%
according to the class of the establishment. The excise
duty is leviable on all producers. Elaborate regulations
are laid down by the Ottoman Laws of the 14th August,
1881, and 13th August, 1912, which fix the duty at 30%
on the prices of all alcoholic beverages, excepting wine and
beers, which pay 15% and a tax of PT. i 875 on each kilo
of pure alcohol.

Imported wines and spirits are subject to an ad valorem
import duty of 11% only. Upon wine exported abroad a

FINANCE, CURRENCY AND BANKING 149

rebate of one-half of the excise duties paid is granted upon
presentation of a certificate of arrival from the country of
destination,
(v) Licences :

(a) Advocates : Every person applying to be examined
by the Legal Board pays a fee of £E. 2 ; for a licence
to practise PT. 50, but new scales are proposed.
(^) Boat and Boatmen (see Port Dues).
(y) Fisheries : The taxes upon the fishing industry were
two, i.e. a. licence and a tax upon the catch. The
licensing fee is PT. 10 per annum and is leviable
upon all persons fishing on seas, lakes or rivers.
The tax of 20% of the auction price of the fish was
abolished by Public Notice dated the 31st August,
1920.
{S) Game : PT. 50 for a licence to carry firearms, and

PT. 20 for shooting game or birds.
(e) Hawkers : A registration fee of PT. 5 to PT. 25 per
mensem. The Department of Public Health also
charges a fee of PT. 5 per annum.
(^) British Marriages :

For receiving notice of an intended £ s. d.
Marriage - - - - - -0100

For receiving notice of a caveat - -100
For every Marriage solemnized by or in
the presence of a Marriage Officer, and
registered by him - - - -100

For Certificate by Marriage Officer of

notice having been given and posted up o 5 o
For registration by Consular Officer of a
Marriage solemnized in accordance with
the local law in addition to the fee for
attendance - - - - - -100

{rj) Medical Practitioners : Licence for

{a) Physicians, Surgeons or Dentists to practise,

;^E.2.
[b) Pharmacists or Druggists, £E. 1.
{c) Midwives, PT. 25.

I50 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

{0) Tobacco : The sale of tobacco in the Turkish Empire
was a monopoly ceded to the O.P.D.A., who, in
turn, farmed out its rights and privileges to a
company known as the " Regie Co-interessee des
Tabacs de 1' Empire Ottoman." This company,
established in 1883, was given a concession for
thirty years, which was renewed in 19 13 for a
farther fifteen years.

Their rights and privileges were declared to be
suspended in Palestine as from the ist March, 1921,
by Ordinance dated the 7th April, 1921. By this
Ordinance the monopoly was abolished, and the
cultivation and sale of tobacco products were
declared free. The following duty has been
imposed :

A tax upon all tobacco and tombac (a Persian
tobacco smoked in narghiles) grown in Palestine
as follows : £E. 2 per donum of land sown with
tobacco or with tombac, with a minimum payment
of PT. 50 in each case.
(f) Tombac : A licence of PT. 100 is payable by vendors
selling tombac in District capitals ; elsewhere PT. 50.
The sale of tombac grown in the Ottoman Empire
is unrestricted.

4. Fees of Court. — The following fees are levied in all
Courts in Palestine :

(i) Fees due on actions :

(a) A fee of 2% of the value of the subject-matter of
a claim or appeal payable in advance by the
plaintiff and i % in certain other cases ;
(^) 1% in possessory actions ;
(y) The fee levied is not less than PT. 10 or more than

PT. 2,000 ;
{S) If the subject-matter of the claim cannot be
assessed in terms of money, a fixed fee of PT. 50
in Magistrates' Courts and of PT. 150 in other
Courts is levied.

FINANCE, CURRENCY AND BANKING 151

(ii) Fees due on judgments :

1% on the value of the subject-matter of the judgment
on delivery of the first copy, provided the sum so levied
shall not be less than PT. 10 ; but if the fee paid on the
claim exceeds 2%, only such amount shall be payable as
shall make the total fee 3^% of the value of the subject-
matter of the judgment.

1% of the value of the land awarded on judgments in
possessory actions, provided the total fee levied shall not
exceed 1%.

(iii) Fees due on copies of judgments, decisions, etc. :

PT. 10 in the Magistrates' Courts and PT. 40 in other
Courts on any copy of judgment or a decision other than
the first copy, and on every page of copies of other docu-
ments.

(iv) Fees due on deposits :

^% oi the value of the sum or article deposited payable
in advance by the depositor and |% for every fraction of
a year.

(v) Fees due in District Courts and Court of Appeal :

PT, 5 on every statement, etc., presented for registration
to the District Courts or Court of Appeal, on every state-
ment to be transmitted to the Moslem Religious Courts
or other Departments, and on every document presented to
the Public Prosecutors.

(vi) Fees on notification :

PT. 10 for serving or drawing or copying a legal document.

(vii) Fees due on proceedings in bankruptcy :

PT. 50 on a demand for the declaration or annullation of
bankruptcy, etc. 3^% on the first £'E. 100, and i^% on
any amount in excess in respect of the judgment levied upon
the assets of the bankruptcy.

(viii) Fees due on execution proceedings :

PT. 10 on notification of judgments.

PT. 20 on a demand for seizure.

PT. 20 in advance on any notice inserted in a news-
paper.

152 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

(ix) Fees due in Magistrates' Courts :
The following are the fees due on judgments in criminal
matters in Magistrates' Courts :

For judgments of fine up to PT. loo or imprisonment up
to 7 days, PT. lo.

For judgments of fine up to PT. 100-200 or imprisonment
from 7-15 days, PT. 20.

For judgments of fine of PT. 200-500 or imprisonment
from 15-30 days, PT. 40.

For judgments of fine of PT. 500-1000 or imprisonment
from 1-2 months, PT. 50.

For judgments of fine of PT. 1000 or imprisonment from
2-3 months, PT. 60.

For judgments of imprisonment from 3-6 months PT. 70.
,, ,, ,, ^-i year - PT. 80.

,, ,, ,, 1-2 years - PT. 90.

,, ,, ,, 2-3 years - PT. 100.

(x) Fees due in other Courts :

The following fees shall be levied in other Courts :
PT. 20 on every commital order.
PT. 20 on every report of proceedings of the trial.
PT. 100 or PT. 150 on a judgment of the District Court
or Court of Appeal,
(xi) Fees in Moslem Religious Courts : ^

In Moslem Religious Courts, subject to certain provisions,
fees are levied according to the Ottoman Law of Court Fees
now in force.
5. Land Registries. —
(i) Sale :

3% on the market value of the property trans-
ferred,
(ii) Exchange :

3% on one-half of the aggregate market value of
the properties exchanged,
(iii) Gifts :

(a) 2% on the market value of the property,
if the gift is to a descendant or
ascendant or wife or husband.

FINANCE, CURRENCY AND BANKING 153

(i8) 3% on the market value of the property,
if the gift is to any other person."
(iv) Lease :

(a) 5% on the rent for one year when the lease
is for a term of more than 3 years
and less than 10 years.
{/S) 10% on the rent for one year where the lease

is for a term of 10 years and over.
The Municipal registration fee of 1% of the
amount of the rent shall be payable in addition
on leases of property within a Municipal area.

(v) Mortgage :

1% on the amount of loan.

(vi) Further Charge :

1% on the increased amount secured.

(vii) Transfer of Mortgage :

1% on the amount of the secured loan trans-
ferred .
(viii) Sale of mortgaged properties at the request of
Mortgagees :

on the purchase price realized on sale

by auction — Registration fee.
on the purchase price realized on sale

by auction — Execution fee.
on the purchase price realized on sale
by auction — Auctioneer's fee i%.

(a) 1^% on the market value of the shares trans-
ferred by way of succession to de-
scendants or ascendants or wife or
husband.

(/3) 3% on the market value of the shares trans-
ferred by way of succession to
brothers, sisters and their descen-
dants,
(y) 5% on the market value of the shares trans-
ferred to any other heirs.

(a)

(/3)

^r/o

(y)

(ix)

Succession

154 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

(x) Bequest :

(a) io% on the market value of the property
transferred by way of bequest if the
legatees are not legal heirs of the
testator.
{j3) if the legatees are legal heirs of the

testator, the fees payable are as set
out in Section 9.
(xi) Partition :

1% on the market value* of the property the
subject of the partition,
(xii) Issue of Certificate of Registration when property
does not appear on the register :
5% on the market value of the property in
respect of which a certificate is applied for.
(xiii) Fees on transfer of Waqf Land :

2^% fees payable on the constitution of land as
zvaqf, of the market value of the land up to
the value of £E. 200.
1% on the value of the land in excess of £E. 200.
One-half of the fees levied in respect of the con-
* stitution of waqf or the transfer of waqf shall

be paid to the Waqf Administration and one-
half to the Treasury,
(xiv) Search :

5 PT. for every property in respect of which
search is made,
(xv) Extracts from the Registers and Documents :
4 PT. for every one hundred words.
2 PT. for every one hundred words certifying any
copy to be a true copy.

In addition to the fees payable for preparing the copy,
the search fee of 5 PT. shall be payable in respect of every
property included in the copy supplied,
(xvi) Printed Forms :

I or 2 PT. for every printed Land Registry Form.

FINANCE, CURRENCY AND BANKING 155

(xvii) Correction of the Register :

25 PT. for every property in respect of which
correction is required.

6. Post Oflace.— (See § 14.)

7. Revenue of State Domains. — The receipt from State
Domains comprise revenues from

(i) Crown lands ceded to the Ottoman Treasury by the
Civil List, following the proclamation of the Constitution
in 1908. These Imperial Domains were originally the
private estates of the Sultans acquired through feudal
means or by purchase from their subjects. It is customary
for such lands to be rented to individual cultivators or
tribal communities on the payment of 10% of the produce.
The Revenue Department includes these lands within its
assessment for tithe, the rate being 22^% or 12^% tithe
plus 10% rent.

(ii) Lands which have been acquired by the State
through escheat or failure of heirs, or through lapses of
cultivation.

(iii) Building property constructed upon sites belonging
to the State, such as the town of Beisan in Galilee and the
village of Mukarraka in Gaza.

8. Stamp Fees. — There are two sources from which this
kind of revenue is drawn :

{a) The Ottoman Stamp Law of 1906 replacing earlier

legislation relating to Stamp Fees.
{b) The " Timbre du Hejaz."

The law of 1906 establishes a multiplicity of fees ^upon
documents of every conceivable kind, constituting an
irksome and vexatious impost falling mostly upon the
non-rural inhabitants, but its incidence cannot be said to
be oppressive since townspeople escaped the payment of
tithes and are in general lightly taxed.

By the decree of Muharram, 1881, the revenues accruing
from this source form a portion of the revenues of the
O.P.D.A. The law is divided into two sections, one dealing

156 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

with the timbre ancien, and the other known as the
timbre a surcharge. Great confusion exists in the minds
of the pubhc as to the terms of the law and the fees
imposed.

Certain items of the law have been cancelled and others
modified ; thus, the fees imposed upon passports, visas and
laissez-passer, railway tickets, land transfers, mortgages and
sales of lands have been cancelled or amalgamated into a
new scale of duties.

The " Timbre du Hejaz " was created to provide funds
for the construction of the Hejaz Railway. It is, for the
most part, a surtax upon documents already taxable under
the law of 1906. The receipts do not form a portion of the
revenues of the Ottoman Public Debt.

The revision and amalgamation of stamp duties is now
under consideration.

9. The Ottoman Public Debt Administration. — The
Decree of Muharram, i88t, instituted the Council of the
Administration of the Public Debt. This body was charged
with the collection of the revenues assigned to meet the
obligations due by the Turkish Government to the foreign
bondholders. The revenues ceded to it included among
others " the five revenues " receivable from salt, stamp
duties, wine and spirit licences and excise dues, fisheries
and silk ; the proceeds of the sale of and tithe upon
tobacco ; and the surtax of 3% upon the ad valorem
customs import duties ; licences for shooting game and
selling tombac.

By the Treaty of Sevres the Mandatory Powers of Occu-
pied Territories are responsible for the payment of an
annual sum which is to be fixed by an international financial
commission sitting in Constantinople. The revenues ceded
to the Public Debt then became a portion of the ordinary
revenues of the mandatory State. Though the Treaty is
still unratified, the arrangements advocated have been partly
adopted. The collection of the ceded revenues is still in
the hands of the Public Debt agents, but the net receipts
are credited to the Government of Palestine.

FINANCE, CURRENCY AND BANKING 157

Ottoman Taxes not enforced. — The following vexatious
Ottoman taxes have been abolished :
(i) temettu (Professional tax) ;
(ii) Fees collected in lieu of military service {badl

askariya) ;
(iii) Tax in lieu of forced road labour [badl sukhra) ;
(iv) Certain small licensing fees.

Revenue and Expenditure. — The following statements
show the total revenue and expenditure under the various
heads for the financial year 1921-22 :

Revenue. £E.

(i) Customs ------- 623,273

(ii) Port Dues ------- 10,705

(iii) Licences, Excise and Internal Revenue - 758,107

(iv) Fees of Court and Office Receipts for Specific

Services and Reimbursements - - 150,496

(v) Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones - - 141,287

(vi) Railways ------- 557,334

(vii) Revenue from Government Property - - 32,289

(viii) Agricultural Department - - - - 2,637

(ix) Royalties and Concessions - - - - —

(x) Interest ------- 20,428

(xi) Miscellaneous - - - - - - 34,562

(xii) Land Sales - - - - - - 1,153

Total - - - ^E. 2, 332, 271

158 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

Expenditure. £E.

(i) Pensions - - 16,645

(ii) Public Debt and Loan Charges - - 6,516

(iii) His Excellency the High Commissioner - 12,809

(iv) Secretariat - - - - - - 32,358

(v) District Administration - - - - 78,608

(vi) Legal Department 75,542

(vii) Land Department and Land Registry - 19,443

(viii) Survey Department _ _ _ _ 1,834

(ix) Financial Secretary ----- 4,868

(x) Treasury - - - - - - - 29,322

(xi) Audit Department ----- —

(xii) Department of Customs Revenue and Ports 104,034
(xiii) Department of Cornmerce and Industry

(including Stores and Labour) - - 15,409

(xiv) Department of Health - - - - 142,931

(xv) Education Department - - - - 88,158

(xvi) Department of Agriculture and Fisheries - 45,179

(xvii) Public Security and Prisons - - - 320,806

(xviii) Defence ------- 7,995

(xix) Department of Immigration and Travel - 13,304

(xx) Department of Antiquities _ _ - 6,649

(xxi) Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones - - 103,121

(xxii) Railways ------ 527,657

(xxiii) Public Works Department _ _ _ 38,200

(xxiv) Public Works, Recurrent - - - - 63,539

(xxv) Public Works, Extraordinary - - - —

(xxvi) Miscellaneous 141,471

Total

;^E.i,896,398

{b) CURRENCY.

Currency. — There is no Palestinian currency. Legal
Tender consists of Notes of the National Bank of Egypt,

FINANCE, CURRENCY AND BANKING 159

Egyptian silver and nickel coins, and the English gold
sovereign, which is reckoned at PT. 97-50.

Notes : PT. 5, 10, 25, 50 ; £E. i, 5, 10, 50, 100.

Silver : PT. i, 2, 5, 10, 20.

Nickel : Milliemes i, 2, 5, 10.

10 milliemes =1 PT. (piastre tariff) =2^d.
1000 milliemes ---£E,. i.

1. Anglo-Egyptian Bank, Ltd. Established 1864. Head
Office, 27 Clement's Lane, London, E.C. 4 (associated with
Barclays Bank, Ltd., London).

Capital ;^ 1 , 800, 000, of which ;^6oo, 000 is paid up . Reserve
Fund ;^720,ooo.

Palestine Branches : Jerusalem — Head Office — (with an
Agency at Ramallah) Manager, A. P. S. Clark (also Manager
of the Palestine Branches) ; Jaffa ; Haifa ; Nazareth.

Banking hours 9 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. (Sundays excepted).

2. Imperial Ottoman Bank. Established 1863. Head
Offices : Constantinople, London and Paris.

Capital ^10,000,000 — divided into 500,000 shares of ;^20
each. The shares are all issued, but ;^io only is paid up.
Reserve Fund (1920), ;/^i, 250,000.

Palestine Branches : Jerusalem — Head Office — (with sub-
branch at Ramallah) Manager, E. E. Wiles (also Manager
of the Palestine Branches) ; Jaffa ; Haifa.

Banking hours : 9-12 and 2-4 daily (Sundays excepted) ;
on Saturdays from 9-12 only.

3. Banco di Roma. Established 1880. Head Office :
Rome.

Capital (fully paid up) 150,000,000 Italian Lire. Reserve
Fund 11,714,265 Italian Lire.

Palestine Branches : Jerusalem — Head Office — Manager,
G. Spagnolo ; Jaffa ; Haifa.

Banking hours : 9 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and 3 to 4 p.m.
(Sundays excepted) .

4. Anglo-Palestine Company, Ltd. Established 1902.

i6o THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

Head Office : Brook House, Walbrook, London, E.G. 4.
Head Office for the Orient : Jaffa, Palestine.

Capital (fully paid up) ;^300,029. Reserve Fund £'j,oi'j.

Branches in Palestine : Jerusalem, Haifa, Hebron, Safed,
and Tiberias. General Managers : D. Levontin and S.
Hoofien.

Banking hours : 9 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and 3 to 5 p.ifl.

5. Credit Lyonnais (Societe Anonyme). Established
1863. Head Office : 19 Boulevard des Italiens, Paris.

Capital (fully paid up) 250,000,000 Francs. Reserve
Fund 200,000,000 Francs.

Palestine Branches : Jerusalem and Jaffa ; Manager, M.
Gerassimos.

Banking hours : 9 a.m. to 12,30 p.m. (Sundays excepted).

§ 4. Customs.

' Customs Stations. — There are customs stations at the
following towns :
Jerusalem.

/with sub-stations at Ludd and
^ \ Tulkeram.

„ r with sub-stations at Beersheba and

Gaza - - I T^i, AA •

I Khan Yunis.

^^ .- f with sub-stations at Tantura, Acre

Haifa - - { , r^ , ,

[ and Semakh.

Accommodation for Goods. — Customs warehouses exist
in Jerusalem, Jaffa, Ludd, Gaza, Haifa, Acre and Semakh.
The free period during which goods may be stored is seven
days, except at Jerusalem, where the period is five days.
Bonded warehouses exist in Jaffa and Haifa, and arrange-
ments have been made for larger premises ; but bonded
warehouses do not perform any work which is properly the
duty of the Customs Department.

Under the provision of the Treaty of Sevres the port of
Haifa is declared a free zone. The underlying principle
regarding " free zones " is that equality of treatment shall

CUSTOMS 1 61

be accorded by the Territorial or Mandatory Power con-
cerned to the subjects of all States without discrimination
in cases where a port serves more than one country. Haifa,
which in the past served only Turkish territory, now handles
traffic destined for, or originating in, the territories under
British and French influence respectively.

Frontiers. — The geographical situation of the frontiers of
Palestine makes the provision of an adequate customs con-
trol a matter of some difficulty. The frontier on three sides
is open, while on the fourth the Mediterranean Sea forms
a barrier, extending from Rafa in the south to Ras al-Nakura
in the north, having few inlets, but for the most part
accessible to the smaller sea craft which are numerous
along the shores of the Eastern Mediterranean. On the
eastern side the Jordan Valley, extending to the south of
the Dead Sea, forms the eastern frontier separating Palestine
from Trans-jordania. In the south the boundary between
Egypt and Palestine demarcated before the War runs from
Rafa south-east to the Gulf of Akaba. From the earliest
ages in history the people inhabiting Palestine have acted
as the middlemen of the East. They have been the carriers
between East and West, they stand between the nomadic
tribes of the Arabian Desert and the civilization of the
West, and they act to-day, as they have done for ages in
the past, as the bridgehead for the products of a hinterland
stretching to the confines of Mesopotamia. Innumerable
camel tracks cross the frontiers from Trans-jordania or the
Sinai Desert into Palestine, and in the north the great
trunk road from Damascus leads into Galilee across the
bridge of Benat Yaqub. The northern frontier stretching
from Lake Huleh to the sea at Ras al-Nakura possesses no
geographical obstacles, and is crossed by mule tracks leadmg
from the large towns of Syria to Acre and Haifa. Under
the Turkish regime the problem of frontier control was not
present, since the sea was the only boundary of any im-
portance, and the numerous tracks radiating from al-Arish
in the south towards Gaza, Hebron and Beersheba were
ignored. A Customs frontier-guard patrols the Rafa-Beer-

1 62 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

sheba area, and at al-Arish the Egyptian Customs Adminis-
tration collects the import and export duties on behalf of
the Palestine Government.

Trans-jordania. — There is no customs barrier between
Palestine and Trans-jordania. All import duties and
formalities on articles consigned to Trans-jordania from
abroad are collected and carried out at the customs station
of arrival in Palestine. Jerusalem and Nablus are the dis-
tributing centres for the East of the Jordan, the principal
imports being manufactured goods, such as cotton and
woollen articles, and tobacco. In return there is a con-
siderable export trade from Trans-jordania into Palestine,
and if markets are available, to Europe, in the shape of
wheat. The Government of Palestine pays to Trans-
jordania a proportion of the import 'and export duties
calculated upon the estimated volume of foreign imports I
into Trans-jordania. The principal trade routes are via
the Dead Sea, the Allenby Bridge near Jericho, Jisr Damia j
opposite Nablus, and Beisan. j

Syria. — The rich territory, of which Damascus is the
centre, provides a lucrative field for foreign import trade.
The railway linking Haifa, via Deraa, to Damascus provides
a convenient mode of transit, while there is constant traffic!
by road via the Benat Yaqub Bridge between Lakes Tiberias
and Huleh. Before the advent of the railways this road
was one of the great highways of the Near East. It is still
used as a route for transporting wheat and other cereals
from the agricultural district of the Hauran into Palestine.

On the establishment of the Military Administration of
Palestine a Customs Station was opened at Haifa, where
import duties were collected on articles either consigned in
transit to Damascus or for local distribution. The Customs
facilities offered at the port make it a convenient route for
importers of foreign consignments, and coupled with advan-
tages of a railway to Damascus, have led to the develop-
ment of a considerable transit trade with the East. Under
the Military Authorities the revenue accruing from the
foreign import trade formed a portion of the receipts of

CUSTOMS 163

the Palestine Customs, but on the estabHshment of Civil
Administrations in Palestine and Syria it was not possible
to continue the collection of these charges at Haifa on con-
signments destined for Syria, and a Customs agreement was
accordingly signed by the High Commissioners for Palestine
and Syria on the 25th August, 1921.

The Syrian-Palestine Customs Agreement. — The Agree-
ment establishes the principle that articles manifested in
transit to Syria pass through Haifa in bond and become
dutiable at the country of destination.

The Customs officials of the country of destination pay
from the dues collected one-half per cent, on the value of the
goods to the country of transit to cover the cost of formalities.

For foreign articles, not in transit, but which may have
broken bulk at Haifa and are subsequently exported to
Syria, the exporter obtains a certificate from the Palestine
Customs authorities stating the value of the articles and
the amount of duty paid when first imported into Palestine.
The goods are then allowed to proceed to Syria without
additional duty being charged. The Customs officials at
the place of importation register the particulars of such
consignments, claiming from the Government of Palestine
the amount of duty originally paid on the entry of the goods
into Palestine. Similarly, for the export of foreign goods
from Beirut or Damascus into Haifa or other places in
Palestine, the Syrian Customs authorities refund to Palestine
the amount of duty chargeable on the articles on their
first importation into Syria. These arrangements ensure
the greatest possible freedom in trade between the two
territories.

Foreign articles which are manufactured in part from
foreign raw material are regarded by both Governments as
the hona-fide produce of the country of manufacture and,
like all local produce, are admitted by either country free
of duty and free of all restrictions.

No duties are chargeable upon goods exported from or
imported to Syria, or vice versa, which are the local produce
of the countries concerned. On the export of such goods

i64 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

by sea, a deposit of one per cent, ad valorem is taken and
is refunded on a certificate being produced that the goods
in question have reached their destination. The arrange-
ment is reciprocal. No deposit is required on local produce
exported by rail.

Rates of Duty. — The rates of duty throughout the
Ottoman Empire were fixed, by treaties of commerce con-
cluded in 1 86 1 and 1862 with the Powers, at 8% ad valorem
for imports and 1% ad valorem for exports. The import
duty was increased in 1907 from 8% to 11%. The increase
of 3% formed a portion of the revenue of the Administration
of the Ottoman Public Debt.

The Government of Palestine maintains the import duty
oi 11% ad valorem and the 1% ad valorem on exports, except-
ing in the case of Egypt and Turkey. The local produce
and manufactures of these countries, whether such goods
contain foreign raw material or otherwise, are imported into
Palestine at an import duty of 8% ad valorem. Syria, as
already mentioned, is excluded from the above.

Foreign Additional Import Duty. — A special duty,
called the Foreign Additional Import Duty, is added to
these import rates and is levied on behalf of Municipalities.
An ad valorem duty of i % is collected on all foreign imports
(except in the case of inflammable liquids, such as petrol,
mineral oil, etc., and alcoholic drinks, including wines arid
beers, on which the additional duty is 2% ad valorem).
Tobacco products are subject to an additional duty of PT. 5
per kilogram only.

These duties replace the octroi of i % ad valorem formerly
collected by the Municipalities of Palestine and abolished in
1 92 1 (see below under " Municipalities ").

Special Duties. — There are special rates of import duty
upon the following articles :

[a) 3% ad valorem on live stock, as enumerated below,
imported for agricultural or slaughtering purposes :

camels, horses, donkeys, cattle and sheep.
The Foreign Additional Import Duty of 1% must
also be paid.

38 per ki

log]

55 >.

„

60 ,,

60 „

•^t

20 ,,

TO ,,

CUSTOMS 165

{h) 3% «^ valorem on building material [e.g. timber, iron

and steel bars, hollow bricks and tiles, cement),
(c) The Tobacco Taxation Ordinance, 1921, amended by
the Tobacco Taxation Amending Ordinance, dated
December, 1921, lays down the duties payable on
imported tobacco products :

uncut tobacco - - - PT.
manufactured tobacco and

cigarettes - - - ,,
cigars and chewing tobacco
snuff - , -
tombac (Persian)

(other than Persian)
Any person who re-exports from Palestine any of the
above articles, and proves to the satisfaction of the Customs
Department that such articles were manufactured from
imported tobacco or tombac, is entitled to a drawback of
80% of the import duty originally paid. The Foreign
Additional Import duty of PT. 5 per kilogram is also pay-
able.

Exemption from Duty. —

(i) Imports. — The following articles are exempted from
Import Duty :

{a) agricultural machinery, as specified below: grain,
chaff, root and bean cutters ; crushers, grinding
machines and bruising mills ; ploughing machinery ;
mowers ; threshing machinery ; reapers ; straw
elevators and threshing machines ; cultivators,
harrows and hoes ; hand rollers ; winnowers ;
grain graders ; hand seed drills and seed layers ;
dairy machinery ; cream separators, milk filters,
heaters, coolers, refrigerators, sterilizers and
butter-making machines ; incubators ; fruit-drying
machinery ; oil mills and crushers, with parts and
accessories ; spraying machinery, and spray pumps ;
fumigation machinery and fumigation tents ;
tractors ; almond hullers ; poultry houses, chicken
pens, brooders and foster mothers (complete or in

1 66 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

section) ; bee-hives, hive frames, honey extractors,
centrifugal machines for honey extraction and liive
foundations ;
{b) recognized chemical manures and seeds for agri-
cultural purposes up to a reasonable quantity ;
(c) samples of no commercial value ;
{d) printed matter as follows : books, reviews and other
publications, bound or unbound ; manuscripts ;
plans or other architectural designs ; maps, atlases
and geographical diagrams, scientific pictures and
diagrams of all kinds ; newspapers and magazines ;
commercial catalogues, price lists and commercial
announcements ; prints and photographs des-
patched by parcel post ;
{e) used personal and settler's effects, including used
household effects, tools and instruments of the
trade or occupation of the settler,
(ii) Exports. — The following commodity may be ex-
ported free of duty :

wine jnanufactured in Palestine.
Prohibited Imports. —

(i) The importation of the following articles into Pales-
tine is prohibited :

arms and ammunition, explosives (with the ex-
ception of sporting guns and sporting gun
ammunition) ; salt ; drawings, engravings and
all printed and manuscript matter of an immoral
or seditious character, whether as merchandise
or wrappings ; hashish and raw opium ; shaving
brushes exported from Japan, China, Manchuria
and Korea.

(2) The following may be imported under special licence
issued by the Director of Public Security :

blasting explosives and saltpetre.

(3) The importation of the following articles is permitted
under permit from the District Governors (Public Notice
No. 180, dated the ist September, 1920) :

sporting guns and sporting gun ammunition.

CUSTOMS 167

(4) The importation of the following articles is only per-
mitted when the articles are accompanied by a certificate,
signed by a competent agricnltnrist in the country of origin,
certifying that they have been examined and found to be
free from disease :

living plants of any description ; bees.

(5) The importation of the following articles into Palestine
is only permitted under special certificates issued by the
Director of Health, viz. :

{a) medicinal opium ;

{b) all preparations (official and non-official, including

the so-called anti-opium remedies) containing more

than 0-2 per cent, of morphine or more than o-i per

cent, of cocaine ;

than o-i per cent, of heroin ;
{d) all derivatives of morphine, of cocaine, or of their
respective salts, and every other alkaloid of opium,
which may be shown by scientific research, generally
recognized, to be liable to similar abuse and produc-
tive of like ill-effects.
Prohibited Exports. —

(i) The exportation of the following articles from Pales-
tine is prohibited :

live stock (excluding camels in transit and goats) ;
hashish and raw opium.
(2) The exportation of antiquities is permitted only under
special licence issued and signed by the Inspector of Anti-
quities.

There is free and unrestricted movement of all com-
modities within Palestine.

Goods entering Palestine manifested in transit to other
destinations may be allowed to proceed, with the exception
of the following :

{a) arms and ammunition, explosives (with the exception

of sporting guns and sporting gun ammunition) ;
{b) drawings, engravings, and all printed and manuscript
matter of an immoral or seditious character,
whether as merchandise or wrappings ;

1 68

THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

{d) blasting explosives and saltpetre (unless under special

licence issued by the Director of Public Security).
Value of Imports and Exports. — The total value of
imports and exports is as follows :

Year Ending

Imports. Exports.

Total.

£E. £E.

£E.

31st March, 1920 -

4,191,060 773.443

4,964,503

3Tst March, 1921 -

5,216,633 771,701

5.988,334

"3 1 St March, 1922 -

5.645.343 935.490

6,580,843

Principal Imports.

—The

principal imports for the period

1st April, 1921, to 31

st March, 1922, were :

Value.

cotton fabrics

14,083,876 metres £'E

= 572,016

sugar -

9,205 tons

= 289,548

flour - - -

8,607 ..

= 179,697

coal _ _ _

61,816 ,.

= 241,130

rice - - _

9,172 „

= 179,887

petroleum

692,944 tins ,,

= 206,759

clothing - - -

— value

= 219,610

iron and steel manuf

—

= 226,848

timber -

—

= 148,503

cigarettes

266 tons

= 297,893

machinery

— value

= 167,638

cotton yarn and sewing

cotton

—

= 90,829

cement -

20,747 tons

= 101,800

Principal Exports. -

-The

principal exports for the period

1st April, 192 1, to 31

st March, 1922, were :

Value.

soap - - -

3,316 tons £E

= 186,255

oranges -

1,234,252 cases

= 325.374

melons -

— value

= 59,757

apricot paste -

977 tons

= 32,356

wine - - _

1. 59 1. 500 litres

= 52,964

lentils -

3,195 tons

= 33,220

lupins - - -

2,967 ..

= 15,182

almonds

552 „

= 24,667

peas - _ _

1.508 „

= 14,669

CUSTOMS 169

The principal countries of import and export are :

(a) Import. — Great Britain ; Egypt ; France ; United
States of America ; Italy ; India ; Germany ; Japan ;
Belgium and Holland.

{b) Export. — Great Britain ; Egypt ; France ; United
States of America ; Germany.

Trade with Egypt. — For the year ended the 31st March,
1922, the value of goods declared as of Egyptian origin
imported to Palestine was £K. 724,734, showing an increase
in value of £'E. 55,278 over the total for the previous year.
The exports from Palestine to Egypt for the year ended
the 31st March, 1922, were valued at £R. 527,579, being a
decrease of £K. 6,716 from the previous year. The increase
in the value of the Egyptian import trade is largely due
to the removal of the prohibition on the importation of
tobacco by the Tobacco Taxation Ordinance, 192 1. The
Egyptian Government has removed the restrictions imposed
upon the export of rice and Egyptian sugar, which, together
with the abolition of the prohibition on the export of
cereals from Palestine, has also provided an incentive to
trade between the two countries.

§ 5. Commerce and Industry.

General. — A Department of Commerce and Industry
advises the Administration on economic matters, and gives
to the public information on commercial and industrial
affairs. The Department purchases all Government stores,
other than Railway Stores and certain technical stores used
by the Department of Posts and Telegraphs.

Industry and Production. — Although industries in
Palestine have no greater protection than that afforded by
an ad valorem duty on imported merchandise, the year 192 1
has witnessed the beginning of an industrial movement of
some importance, which is significant in having begun at
a time when power is extremely expensive. Coal for com-
mercial use averages more than £'E. 5 per ton in ports.

With the recrudescence of building activity to meet

lyo

THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

growing demands, the building industry has assumed an
important place in the country's industries, and many
brick, tile and cement block factories now exist at Jaffa.
Soapmaking from olive oil, an old-established industry of
Palestine, has its main centres at Nablus and Jaffa, but
factories with more modern methods now exist at Haifa
and contribute materially to what is an important Palestine
article of export. Wine-growing is a very important
industry, and Palestine wines constitute one of the main
articles of the country's exports. The chief centres of
production are Richon-le-Zion and Zichron Jacob.

The production of salt from the waters of the Medi-
terranean at Athlit is a new Palestinian industry, which will
in the near future not only meet the entire requirements of
the country, but will add another article to the list of
Palestine's exports.

There is a great need of Industrial and Mortgage Banks,
who would be prepared to advance money to manufacturers
on long terms at reasonable rates, and also to Import and
Export Houses working on modern lines.

Chambers of Commerce exist in the principal towns.
Traditional Industries. — The following are the traditional
and long established industries of the country :

Weaving (carpets, mats, rugs,
clothes, abayas, braid),
manufacture of agals,
purses, tassels, plaiting of
belts, dyeing, needlework,
embroidery, lacemaking ;
masonry, carpentry, joinery,
cabinet making, mud brick
making, lime and cement
making ;
r blacksmiths, coppersmiths,
tinsmiths, gold and silver
smiths, making of peasant
jewellery, cutlery and camel
bells :

(i) Textile

(ii)

Building and
Allied Trades

(iii) Metal Industries -

COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY

171

(iv) Eeatlier and
Tanning -

(v)

Manufacture
Agricultural
Implements

(vi) Domestic Utensils

[handling and tanning of local
\ skins, manufacture of boots,
I shoes, and of water skins ;
forging of ploughshares,
sickles, etc., shaping of
plough handles, manufac-
ture of saddles, whips,
fishing nets, manufacture
of soap from local olive oil ;
basket-making, manufacture
of brooms, sieves, wooden
spoons, bellows, pipes and
pipe-tubes, glass-making,
manufacture of musical
instruments (lutes, aoudes
and drums).

Orange Export Trade. — The following table gives the
export figures and values of oranges exported from Jaffa
since 1909. It will be noticed, from the decreased quan-
tities exported, to what extent the gardens suffered during
the war :

Cases. Value.

1908-9 - - - 744.463 I'P-- £^^5M5

1909-10 - - 853,767 235,605

1910-11 - - 869,850 217,500

1911-12 - - 1,418,000 283,600

1912-13 - - 1,608,570 297,700

1919-20 - - 647,063 162,409

1920-21 ■ - - 830,959 200,475

1921-22 - - 1,165,937 306,517

* The quantities sent to Great Britain were 282,500 cases,

valued at £^. 64,409, in 1921, and 215,899 cases, valued at

£E. 56,839, in 1920.

§ 6. Inimi.^ration.

Immigration. — An Immigration Ordinance was promul-
gated in September, 1920, stating the terms under which

172 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

immigrants might be allowed to enter Palestine ; at the
same time the principle was laid down that immigration
should be regulated according to the economic needs of the
country.

The Zionist Organization, as the Jewish Agency recog-
nized by the Administration, was authorized to introduce
into the country a fixed number of immigrants (16,500) on
condition that they accepted responsibihty for their main-
tenance for one year.

Entry into Palestine was then authorized to the following
categories :

{a) immigrants whose maintenance was guaranteed by

the Zionist Organization ;
{b) persons of independent means or persons who could
produce evidence that they would become self-
supporting ;
(c) persons of religious occupation who had means of

maintenance in Palestine ;
{d) members of families at present residents in Palestine.

During the eight months ended the 30th April, 1921,
8030 immigrants entered Palestine (62% men, 22% women,
16% children) under the auspices of the Zionist Organiza-
tion ; and 2031 (48% men, 31% women, 21% children)
independently.

On the 4th May, 1921, immigration was suspended, and
on the 3rd June the old categories were cancelled and the
following were substituted for them :

{a) travellers, i.e., persons who do not intend to remain
in Palestine for a period exceeding three months ;

(b) persons of independent means who intend to take up

permanent residence in Palestine ;

calling ;

(d) wives, children and other persons wholly dependent

on residents in Palestine ;

(e) persons who have a definite prospect of employment

with specified employers or enterprises ;

he 1

IMMIGRATION 173

(/) persons of religious occupations, including the class
of Jews who have come to Palestine in recent years
from religious motives and who can show that they
have means of maintenance here ;
(g) returning residents.

The total number of immigrants who entered Palestine
from the 3rd June, 192 1, when immigration was reopened,
to the 31st December, 1921, was 4861, of whom 4784 were
Jews.

The following table shows the percentage per country of
immigrants that have come to Palestine during the period
ist September, 1920, to 31st December, 192 1 :

Poland- 33 0/0

Russia 15%

Smaller East European States - - 11%
Central Asia- - - - - - 10 %

Rumania _--___ 5%

Great Britain and Dominions - - 3i%

Other Countries - - - - - 22-|%

Tourists. — The tourist traffic, once a source of consider-
able profit to Palestine, has begun, in 1922, to revive after
an abeyance of eight years, due to the war.

§ 7. Education.

History and Organization. — Under the Ottoman Govern-
ment the educational system in Palestine was mainly con-
fined to education of a very elementary nature, although
during the war Jemal Pasha attempted to introduce a rather
better type of school. Christian education was conducted
entirely by private religious bodies and individuals. Jewish
education was catered for by Jewish religious bodies and
by the European Communities, whose nationals were living
in Palestine, assisted by the generous donations of wealthy
private individuals.

Turkish was the official language in the schools as else-
where in Palestine, and even Arabic was taught through

174 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

its medium. Arabic was, therefore, educationally speaking,
a foreign language, and there were very few persons, and
these mainly educated abroad, who were acquainted to any
extent with the literature and history of their own language.

During the war the system became seriously disorganized ;
and the reorganization of education in Palestine by the
Occupying Power on the lines of the Ottoman regime,
according to international law, presented an intricate and
difficult problem.

In 191 7 the Occupied Enemy Territory Administration
began the work of educational reconstruction. Arabic was
made the medium of instruction, schools that had existed
before were re-opened in as many districts as possible, and
some of the older Sheikhs, who had not been taken for
military service, gathered together the children in the
mosque or the village school building, and began again to
teach them the Qoran and Arabic reading and writing.

After the occupation of Jerusalem in 191 7 a more exten-
sive system of education was planned, including the insti-
tution of two Training Colleges.

In August, 19 1 8, a qualified English lady from Cairo was
appointed to be headmistress of the Government Girls'
School in Jerusalem, and also to help in the general organi-
zation of female education.

In 1919 the Military Administration voted £E. 53,000 for
the Education Budget. Elementary schools were opened
in nearly all towns of Palestine, and a system was drawn up
of grants-in-aid to villages, under which the Administration
paid £E,. 30 a year on condition that the Community sup-
plied another £E. 30. Fifty- two of these grant-in-aid
schools were opened during 1919.

Later in the year Training Colleges, both for men and
women, were opened in Jerusalem. Hostels for boarders
were attached to them, and a teaching staff, composed of
both Moslems and Christians, appointed.

In the financial year 1920-21 the sum of £R. 78,000 was
voted for education, and more elementary schools were
opened,-

EDUCATION 175

A programme of elementary education, which fore-
shadowed the opening of 75 elementary schools a year for
four years, was presented to the Advisory Council in
November, 1920. The majority of these schools were to
be in villages which up to then had possessed no educational
facilities. It was hoped that, at the end of this period,
every child in Palestine would have an opportunity of
attending school, with the possible exception of some chil-
dren of Beduin tribes in outlying districts, for whom special
provision has been made by appointing peripatetic teachers,
who live with the tribes and teach the children in tribal
groups.

In 192 1 seventy-five of these schools were opened, and
the grant-in-aid schools formerly organized by the Depart-
ment were also taken over as Government schools.

For the financial year 1921-22 £E. 103,000 was voted for
the Education Budget and, in addition to this, the awqaf
mundarisa, the revenues from which amounted to ^E. 4,800,
were handed over to the Department of Education, on the
understanding that the income was to be spent on Moslem
education.

An extension of the Men's Training College, permitting
an increase in the number of boarding students from 50 to
75, was effected in 1921, while the Women's Training
College moved into a larger building.

The language of instruction in all Government Schools is
Arabic ; English being taught only in the larger town
schools, beginning in thp third year. Hebrew has not yet
been introduced, as the number of Jewish children in
Government schools is at present insignificant. In towns
the Government supplies the building, pays the teachers
and provides for the expenses of the school. In villages
the community supplies the building, keeps it in repair and
supplies the school furniture, while the Government pays
the other expenses.

Teaching Staff. — Teachers' Examinations were held in
1919 and 1920, and a temporary certificate granted. In
192 1 Higher and Lower Examinations for Government

1/6 THE HANDBOOK" OF PALESTINE -

Schoolmasters were arranged, the standard of the former
being not much below that of the London Matriculation.
Great difficulty has been and is still being experienced in
finding an efficient teaching staff, especially in the more"
remote districts, largely owing to the lack of any proper
system of training under the Turks, but the existing Train-
ing Colleges and the system of teachers' examinations will,
it is hoped, raise the teaching staff in a few years to the
level of a European elementary standard.

Educational Committees. — Local educational committees
have been formed in most Districts, consisting of some five
or six notables of the community. The Governor of the
District or his representative presides at meetings, and these
committees have been helpful in rousing local interest and
in giving advice.

In 1 92 1 a Central Education Committee was formed under
the presidency of the Director of Education, for the purpose
of maintaining a harmonious feeling between the com-
munities in educational matters, and to facilitate inter-
communication between the various^ educational bodies.
The Committee acts in an advisory capacity to the Depart-
ment of Education, but has no executive powers. It con-
sists of eleven unofficial members (of whom three are ladies),
selected from the three Communities, and of senior members
of the Headquarters Staff.

Total Number of Government Schools. — The total
number of Government schools now opened is 28 boys'
and 23 girls' schools in the larger towns and 190 village
schools for mainly boys. These schools are attended by
about 14,000 boys and 2,800 girls.

Grants-in-aid. — In the budget of 1921-22 the sum of
^E. 6,125 was set aside for the assistance of non-Government
schools, subject to Government inspection, and was dis-
tributed on a per capita basis. As the majority of the non-
Government school population are Jewish children, the
bulk of this grant was given to Jewish schools, and a Jewish
Inspector was engaged in January, 1921, with the special
object of keeping the Department in touch with Jewish

EDUCATION 177

education. Though the percentage of the Jewish popula-
tion in Palestine does not exceed 11% of the total, the
number of Jewish children attending non-Government
schools is slightly larger than that of the total number
attending Government schools ; the reason being that,
whereas the Zionist Organization and other Jewish bodies,
such as the " Alliance Israelite " and the Anglo-Jewish
Association, have been able to provide educational facilities
for the majority of Jewish children, the onus of providing
education for the Moslems mainly falls on the Government
as it did during the Turkish regime. Up to the present,
owing to lack of funds, the Department has not been able
to cater for more than about one-seventh of the number of
Moslem children of the country.

The Orthodox, Latin, Anglican and other Christian com-
munities are in receipt of grants in proportion to the number
of pupils attending their respective schools.

Secondary Schools. — There are at present no Govern-
ment schools devoted entirely to secondary education. In
Jerusalem, Nablus, Nazareth and Acre secondary classes
have been opened : these are attached to the elementary
schools, and are being developed as necessity arises. It is
hoped to attach hostels for boarders to these schools. A
number of non-Government secondary schools exist in
Palestine, but none of these use Arabic as the medium of
instruction, and almost all have primary classes attached
to them.

Training Colleges. — 46 girls (17 Moslems and 29 Christians)
are boarded at the Women's Training College. In addition
to the English Principal, who also acts as Chief Inspectress
of Girls* Schools, two English ladies have recently been
appointed as Assistants in this institution in order to
improve instruction in kindergarten work and domestic
economy. The Men's Training College is developing
rapidly ; tliere are 67 students in residence, of whom 53 are
Moslems and 14 Christians.

Technical Education. — An attempt has been made to
introduce elementary technical education into some of the

178 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

schools. All schools have gardens attached to them, and
in some localities there have been opened workshops, where
the boys are taught carpentry, iron work, saddlery, etc.
Great importance is attached to the introduction of manual
training in elementary schools, but there is a lack of com-
petent instructors.

Such technical education as exists, in the true sense, is
confined mainly to Jewish effort. In addition to the
Bezalel Institution in Jerusalem, where craftsmanship in
metal is the main feature, and a well-organized Technical
School at Haifa, both under Jewish Administration, the
Schneller Orphanage (a Protestant institution) in Jerusalem
provides instruction in pottery, leather work, carpentry,
etc.

The schools of ceramics and of weaving, both under the
auspices of the Pro-Jerusalem Society, receive an annual
grant from the Department with a special view to training
apprentices. The numbers of apprentices are not very
large (14 in ceramics and 11 in weaving), but the instruction
is given by experts, and the results, so far, have been
satisfactory.

Agricultural Schools. — Small Government Agricultural
schools exist at Gaza and Tulkeram, and it is proposed, in
conjunction with the Department of Agriculture, to organize
other schools in the near future.

The largest Agricultural school is that situated at Mikveh-
Israel, under the auspices of the " Alliance Israelite." Here
the language of instruction is Hebrew and all the students
are Jewish,

Education of Girls. — There are at present approximately
2,800 girls attending Government schools. There are
schools for girls conducted by Government or by private
bodies in every town and in some of the villages. Some
of the better Moslem families still prefer to send their
daughters to the schools of the European Missionary
Societies. Such Government schools for girls as existed
under the Turkish regime were unsatisfactory, and it is not
surprising that the e^fcellent moral training, which Jias

,nd i

EDUCATION 179

always been a characteristic feature of missionary institu-
tions, should still attract the parents of Moslem girls.

Non-Government Schools. —

(a) Moslem : A few Moslem private schools exist, but
these as a rule do not reach the standard attained by those
of the other Communities. The best known of these is the
Rawdat al-Ma'aref in Jerusalem. There is also a consider-
able number of mosque-schools {kuttab), in which instruction
is mainly confined to the Qoran.

{b) Christian : The majority of the Christian population
in Palestine belong to the Orthodox Church. They have
for many years had schools, conducted by the ecclesiastical
authorities, in all parts of the country where members of
that community are to be found. These schools have
suffered severely owing to the financial difficulties of the
Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, but are beginning to
show signs of revival.

In Phoenicia and Galilee, where the Greek Uniate (Mel-
chite) Church is largely represented, there exist schools of
that denomination. The Roman Catholic community
likewise conducts schools, mainly for children of its own
faith, in many parts of the country.

To the Christian Missionary Schools, more especially
to those conducted by Anglican and Presbyterian societies,
Palestine owes a deep debt of gratitude. The English
College in Jerusalem, which is under the direct auspices of
the Anglican Bishop, is at present the only institution in
the country which definitely prepares students up to English
matriculation standard, and which will probably develop
into a College of University type. The Presbyterian Boys'
School, formerly at Tiberias, and recently re-opened at
Safed, has an established reputation ; while S. George's and
Bishop Gobat's Schools (Anglican), both in Jerusalem, and
both with adequate accommodation for boarders, are well
attended by Moslems as well as by Christians. Bishop
Gobat's School was founded in 1853, and its certificate is
accepted for entrance to the Freshmen Class in the American
University of Beirut. English is the language of the school,

i8o THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

;his ^

but Arabic is equally well taught. Former scholars of this
institution are now holding prominent positions in Palestine.

As regards female education, one of the best Girls'
Schools in Palestine is the British High School in Jerusalem,
conducted by Miss Warburton, M.B.E., and staffed by a
competent body of English and Palestinian ladies. The
Church Missionary Society has smaller schools for girls in
various centres. More than one American Society has
shown great educational activity, and one has done specially
valuable work in the villages round Ramallah.

(c) Jewish : There are over 17,000 registered pupils in
the Jewish Schools, of whom some 11,500 are in the schools
of the Zionist Organization. These latter include 46 kinder-
gartens on modern Froebelian lines, 62 elementary, 6
secondary and 10 technical and special schools. Evening
courses are provided for the teaching of the Hebrew lan-
guage and commercial training, and as continuation schools
for youths engaged in some trade during the day. The
non-Zionist schools are those of the " Alliance Israelite,"
the Evelina de Rothschild school for Girls under the Anglo-
Jewish Association, one Training College and one Technical
School, a number of Orthodox institutions mainly very
elementary, and a few independent private schools chiefly
of technical character.

The Zionist Schools are on the whole similar in pro-
gramme and standard to corresponding schools in Europe,
more especially those in Switzerland, the Hebrew language
and Jewish literature and history taking the place of the
national subjects taught in other countries. The same may
be said of most of the non-Zionist schools other than the
Orthodox, except that in some of them Hebrew is not the
language of instruction. All schools in the colonies, and
some in the cities, are mixed. In the secondary schools,
Greek and Latin have been excluded from the syllabus, as
not being intimately connected with the Jewish civilization.
The syllabus of the Zionist Orthodox schools lays stress on
religious subjects.

The budget of Jewish Schools is defrayed partly by the

EDUCATION i8i

various governing bodies, partly by tuition fees (over
£K. 20,000 per annum) ; the bulk of it, however, over
£E. 100,000, comes from the Zionist Organization. In
1920-21 £K. 3,550 was allotted to these schools by the
Palestine Government from the funds available for grants-
in-aid to non-Government schools.
Law Schools. — See § 2 of this Part.

§ 8. Land Tenure.

' General. — The tenure of immovable property in Palestine
is governed by the Ottoman Laws in force at the time of
the occupation of the country by the British Army. Since
that date these laws have been to a small extent amended
by local legislation, but they still remain the guiding
authority under which all matters relating to imjnovable
property are ad j usted and administered by the Government
and in the Courts. Special Land Courts have been con-
stituted to deal exclusively with matters affecting owner-
ship of land. Any immovable property can be acquired
compulsorily for the purpose of public utility, for the needs
of the Army or for the purpose of carrying into effect any
scheme of town planning. Werko (Land Tax) is levied upon
all real estate. Prior to the introduction of the Ottoman
Land Code of 1274 a.h. (1858 a.d.) titles to mulk land and
buildings were registered in the Sharia Court, but no form
of registration of miri land existed ; since that time all
titles have been granted by the State through the Land
Registry Department, and no person can legally hold im-
movable property which is not registered. Land Registry
offices exist in all the Sub-Districts of Palestine. The
registration is of deeds and not of title ; that is to say that
the documents affecting any transaction in land must be
filed in the Registry, but no guarantee of registered title is
given. Owing to religious and political disabilities imposed
by the Turkish Authorities on non-Moslem and non-Ottoman
subjects most of the land in Palestine belonging to the big
religious and charitable institutions is registered by nam

i82 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

musta'ar, i.e., in 'the name of a trustee who is an Ottoman
subject. The trust has no legal sanction but is respected
in practice ; and, under the Correction of the Land Register
Ordinance, 1920, this land is now being registered in the
name of the true owners, as corporate bodies and foreigners
may now own land.

Categories of Land. — Immovable property in Palestine
is divided into five main categories : [a) mulk ; {b) miri ;
(c) waqf ; {d) metruqe ; {e) mewat.

{a) Mulk. — Mulk approximates very closely to the
English form of freehold, the holder exercising complete
rights of ownership and disposition, except devise by will,
which, in accordance with Islamic doctrine, is limited to
one-third of the testator's mulk property, the remaining
two-thirds devolving on the heirs of the holder according
to Sharia Law.

{h) Miri. — Miri is property over which the State has the
right of ownership but over which the right of occupation
or usufruct is enjoyed by private individuals. The holder
has the right to use the property as he desires provided he
cultivates it. He may sell, mortgage or lease, but cannot
bequeath part of it by will, nor can it form the subject of
a gift or be constituted waqf. If it remains uncultivated
for three consecutive years without lawful excuse (as, for
instance, the absence of the holder on military service), it
reverts to the State. The possessor may, however, redeem
it on payment. of badl misl, i.e., the unimproved capital
value. On the death of the holder it devolves upon his
heirs in accordance with the Law of Inheritance of 1331 a.h.,
and in the event of failure of heirs it reverts to the State.
Most of the land in Palestine is of this class. In the majority
of the villages the miri lands are held in masha'a, that is,
in common undivided shares, and are registered in the
name of four or five notables, while in reality the property
of all the villagers, possibly numbering hundreds of persons.
The villager does not hold the same plot of land con-
tinuously ; at intervals varying from one to three years
a fresh portion is allotted to him. This allocation gives

LAND TENURE 183

rise to much trouble among villagers, with the result that
the cultivator has neither the energy nor the inclination to
improve his temporary holding, and the productivity of the
soil and the revenue of the country suffer. Inducements
are now being offered by the Government to villagers to
partition their masha'a lands.

{c) Waqf. — W^a^/ lands (see Part 11. , §5) are mortmain
property, which lias been dedicated to some religious or
charitable object and has been derived mainly from mulk
and mm. Waqf oi mulk i^th.e only txixe waqf ; it is governed
by the religious law and is not subject to the Land Code.
It was previously administered by the IFa^/ Administration,
but is now under the control of the Supreme Moslem Sharia
Council, and is subject to the conditions laid down by the
founder. Waqf oi miri (tahsisai) is State land, the proceeds
of which have been dedicated to some special object either
by the Sultan or by others with Imperial sanction. The
Nizami (civil) land laws apply to this form of waqf, and the
waqf Administration stands in the same relation to it as the
State stands to miri. Waqf lands are governed partly by
the Sharia Law and partly by the Nizami. They are
complex and heterogeneous in tenure, and persons acquiring
such lands should proceed with great caution and obtain
sound legal advice before completing their transaction.
Land cannot be dedicated as waqf without the sanction of
the Director of Land Registries.

(d) Metruqe. — Metruqe comprises («) land left for or
dedicated to the public, e.g., roads, etc. ; (^) land left and
assigned to the inhabitants of a particular town or village
as a body, e.g., communal pasture or forest lands, parks,
places of worship, markets and similar public places. Land
of this class cannot be held individually nor can it be bought,
sold or inherited, and it cannot be used for any purpose
other than that for which it has been dedicated or assigned
ab antiquo.

{e) Mewat. — Mewat (lit. " dead " or " waste " land) is
unowned land, which has not been left or assigned to the
inhabitants of a town or village. It must also be so far

1 84 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

from a town or village that the loud voice of a person from
the. nearest inhabited spot cannot be heard there. The
Land Code further specifies that the distance between the
unowned land and the nearest inhabited town or village
must be about one and a half Turkish miles, a Turkish mile
(the equivalent of an English league) being regarded as the
distance covered at walking pace in an hour by a horse or
donkey* Practically the whole of the unoccupied land in
Palestine is of this class. It is governed by all the pro-
visions of the Land Code applicable to miri. Under the
Mewat Land Ordinance, 1920, it is forbidden for any person
^to occupy mewat land without first obtaining the permission
of the Government. Applications to take up these lands
must be made to the Department of Lands.

Approximate Values. — It is difficult to value even
approximately the agricultural land in Palestine. It varies
according to the nature, situation and productivity of the
land. From figures available from transactions registered
during the year 192 1, the average value of agricultural land
may be taken at £E. 4 per donum. It is impossible to
hazard an opinion as to the value of town land, because
the transactions registered give no indication of the im-
provements existing upon the land. Sales of unimproved
building allotments in the immediate vicinity of Jerusalem
have, however, been effected at prices varying from £E. 2
to £E. 4 per square metre.

Transactions. — The procedure in dealing with real estate
is inexpensive and, where the titles are in order, simple.
In most cases, however, complications of titles render trans-
actions involved and tedious. The fees are low (c/. § 3
above). Under the Transfer of Land Ordinance, 1920, the
consent of the Administration is required to all dispositions
of immovable property. This consent is given by the
Director of Land Registries or by the District Registrar in
any of the thirteeji towns in which registries are established .
All dispositions are opened by petitions lodged at the Land
Registry Office of the District within which the land is
situated. The Registrar undertakes free of charge the

om 11

LAND TENURE 185

preparation and completion of all documents necessary to
carry the transaction through. In cases in which survey
is necessary the work is carried out by Government sur-
veyors at a nominal cost. The parties to the transactions
must appear in person before the registrar, or be repre-
sented by an authorized agent. To avoid the fraud which
might arise from secrecy, all transactions must be sup-
ported by a certificate of the Mukhtars or notables of the
village within which the land is situated.

Sales. — In the case of sales the existing title-deeds are
cancelled, and a new qushan (certificate) is issued to the
purchaser.

Mortgages. — Mortgages must comply with the Pro-
visional Law of Mortgages of 1331 a.h. as amended by the
Mortgage Law Amendment Ordinance, 1920, The rate of
interest must not exceed 9%. In case of foreclosure of
mortgage the mortgagee applies to the District Court for
an order of sale. The Court has discretionary powers and
may postpone the sale in cases in which it would appear
that undue hardship would be imposed upon the debtor.
If sale is approved, the property is submitted to public
auction by the execution officer and is registered in the name
of the highest bidder.

Succession. — On the death of the holder of any land, the
Sharia Court is at present the only authority competent to
issue a certificate of succession showing the heirs and the
shares under which the property should devolve upon the
surviving heirs. In mulk land the succession is in accord-
ance with the Sharia Law, it being provided, however, that
the deceased may bequeath one third by will. Other lands
devolve according to the Law of Inheritance of 1331.
Succession fees vary from i^% to 5% on the market value
of the property according to the degree of heirship.

Partition. — Partition of land held in joint ownership may
be effected by the consent of all the parties through the
Land Registry Office. Where, however, the parties fail to
agree as to the division, the matter is referred to the Magis-
trate's Court.

1 86 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

Lease. — ^AU leases for a period exceeding three years musi
be registered in the Land Registry, and leases for a shortei
period within a Municipal area with the Municipality. In
cases in which leased land is being disposed of the Govern-
ment may withhold its consent to the sale unless the tenant
in possession has sufficient land elsewhere for the reasonable
maintenance of himself and his family.

Attachments. — The Courts may order the attachment of
any registered land and may charge it with payment of any
sum due under the judgment of the Court. This attach-
ment is registered, and the debt represented by it takes
priority over all other unregistered debts and obligations of
the judgment debtor.

Searches. — Intending purchasers, mortgage holders, judg-
ment creditors or other persons having an interest in any
land may apply for and obtain particulars of the registration
of the land in which they are interested, and may, on
payment, have copies of or extracts from all documents
relating to that property.

§ 9. Agriculture and Forestry.

General. — Smaller than Belgium or Wales in habitable
area, without visible coal, oil, timber or minerals of com-
mercial value, Palestine at present depends to a large extent
economically and fiscally upon its rural industries. For
this purpose not more than two million hectares of land
are available within its boundaries, and of this area only
half a million are at present under perennial cultivation, as
a result of heavy mortality among working cattle during
the war and a subsequent collapse of agricultural credit.
Primitive methods of farming and a very low standard of
yields, coupled with a lack of crops of high intrinsic value,
further limit agricultural revenue.

Department of Agriculture. — The GovernmerTt Agricul-
tural Department was constituted as an administrative unit
in April, 1920, the Ottoman provincial service having
disappeared completely during the war, leaving neither

AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY 187

concrete nor docuihentary evidence of its official activities.
The Department is responsible for the agricultural, veterin-
ary, forestry, soil-survey and fisheries services. In addition
to its normal duties, the agricultural field staff assists on
demarcation commissions, tithe assessments, and inspec-
tions of government loans ; while forest rangers act as tax
collectors for several classes of revenue. The veterinary
service provides treatment, drugs and farriery for all Govern-
ment live stock, including gendarmerie and police animals,
and inspects meat supplies, slaughter houses, markets and
public stables.

The Department assumes responsibility for research
and education, and, in the absence of text-books of local
application and teachers of local origin, land has been
secured in the neighbourhood of departmental headquarters
in the hope that it will be possible to establish, in due
course, a school, laboratories, experiment farm and veterin-
ary hospital, where a junior staff may be afforded practical
courses of training, which in turn they can pass on to the
cultivators.

To each District are appointed agricultural assistants,
veterinary inspectors and forest rangers, who continuously
tour the villages. Agricultural shows and ploughing
demonstrations are organized by the Department.

Preventive services also constitute an important part of
the work of the field staff, which is responsible for animal
quarantine on the borders and the isolation of infected
stock in the interior ; inspection of plant imports and
exports ; measures for the destruction of locusts, field-mice
and rats ; and the demonstration of spraying and fumiga-
tion methods.

Land Development. — It may be assumed for all practical
purposes that the total exploitable land surface in Palestine
does not exceed ^^ million acres or, say, 1,820,000 hectares,
of which 50% may be written off as uncultivable. Of these,
the rainless desert to the south of Beersheba is, in point of
area, the most important. The rocky, barren plateaux of
Judaea and, in lesser degree, the denuded limestone hills

1 88 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

of Samaria and Galilee, limit the productivity of the central
districts ; while the coastal plain is margined on the sea-
board by a regular alternation of sand-dune and swamp.
The potential value of swamp areas and measures for their
reclamation have been exhaustively examined, from the
agricultural and medical standpoints, and effect has already
been given to approved schemes. It is also hoped to afforest
large expanses of sand-dunes on the coast. Considerable
areas, amounting to some 300,000 hectares, of arable soil
remain uncultivated.

A sparse population living in economic isolation and
employing very primitive methods naturally adopts a
farming system based on bare fallowing. Land is cropped
without manure until exhausted and then abandoned until
a measure of fertility has been recovered. Increasing pres-
sure of population, and the upward trend in the values of
agricultural holdings and produce, the partition of common
lands, improved communications and the practical demon-
strations of better methods by new settlers are, however,
having their effect. Manuring and a rotation of crops for
the maintenance of fertility are becoming recognized
practices, and, based on a system of mixed farming, should
solve the problem of closer settlement and financial
stability.

The average returns for the country at large of wheat,
barley, lentils and black vetch [kersaneh), were less than a
third in each case of corresponding Egyptian figures for
1919-20. Thus, a hectare of wheat in Palestine produced
on an average 593 kilos of grain, as compared with 1,793
kilos harvested in Egypt. The reasons are primitive ^
methods of cultivation, weed-growth as an aftermath of ;
war, lack of manure and chemical fertilizers, poor seed and
unproductive varieties. That there is response to better
cultivation and manuring has already been determined by
a few progressive farmers. The settlers of a colony near
Ludd harvested wheat crops ranging from 1,200 to 1,400
kilos, and barley yielding from 1,800 to 2,700 kilos per
hectare.

AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY 189

The climate is characterized over the northern and
central regions by a winter rainfall of rather more than
600 mm. ; a rainless summer ameliorated by heavy dews
and much humidity ; a relatively small range in mean
temperature and an absence of killing frosts. The Jordan
Valley enjoys a fairly regular rainfall of about 500 mm.,
the value of which is limited by an excessive mean summer
temperature, lower humidity and smaller dew-fall. The
south receives on an average between 400 and 300 mm. of
rain, but suffers from prolonged periods of drought.

Field crops, with few exceptions, are still sown by hand
and hand-cleaned, cut with the sickle and trodden out by
cattle on the village threshing-floor.

The standard of dairy and beef cattle, woolled sheep,
horses, mules and donkeys is not high. Protracted maturity
and poor fattening qualities render the Arab steer an un-
profitable subject for fattening and finishing. The sheep
produce wool which is at present only fit for carpet making,
and local horses and mules are few. Donkeys have had to
be imported from Cyprus and Syria.

Forestry. — Centuries of neglect and failure to apply the
most elementary principles of forest management, wholesale
fellings during the war, and deforestation in favour of meagre
cereal crops, have produced dire results ; and, with the
exception of a few artificial plantations, the remains of the
natural forests have been destroyed and the greater part of
the hill-country is entirely bare.

As a consequence, measures have been taken to guard the
forests against further destruction.

In 1920 was passed an Ordinance, under which the rights
of villagers to the products of the neighbouring forests have
been clearly recognized ; firewood, timber for houses and
ploughs, and the right of grazing on open land, have been
allowed free of charge. In return, the villagers must assist
to prevent and extinguish fires in the forests, and keep their
animals away from places where young trees have been, and
are being planted, or new growth is springing up from the
stumps.

iQo THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

At present it is forbidden to cut down oak and caroub
trees ; and, where brushwood, Pistachia terebinthus , Rhus
coriaria (sumac), etc., exists, it is being utihzed as fuel.

The work of afforestation in Palestine will necessitate an
enormous amount of labour.

At Beit alrjemal, a village of Jerusalem, a large forest
has been established on hills which have in the past been
covered with the evergreen Kermes oak {Quercus coccifera).
During the war these trees were cut down, but a second
growth is now springing up from stool. A nursery for the
propagation of trees has also been established at Beit
al-Jemal. Measures are being taken to regenerate the
forests in the Carmel mountains, as it has been observed
that the oaks which compose these forests produce larger
trees than the Kermes oak of the Hebron forests, and the
timber is equal in quality to that of the Kermes oak. Many
of the trees which have been cut down are producing new
growth from the base, and, if the young shoots are pro-
tected from goats, etc., the forest will soon re-establish
itself.

Forest nurseries have been organized in Jerusalem,
Hebron, Nablus, Acre and Nazareth. These places will be
made the centres of distribution and forests established on
the neighbouring hills. The nurseries will also serve for
the propagation of fruit trees, such as olives, almonds, vines
and other plants suited to the hill-country. In this con-
nexion great importance is attached to the flood-bed of the
Jordan River,

At Beersheba considerable numbers of eucalyptus have
been planted and are growing well.

It is contemplated that in the future greater use will be
made of Tamarix articulata, casuarina and wattles. Ar-
rangements have already been made to plant wattles on the
sand-dunes along the sea coast.

The distribution and extent in hectares of the hill forests
is as follows :

Acre 25,000 ; Bethlehem 120 ; Haifa 6,450 ; Hebron
4.945 ." Jerusalem 880 ; Jenin 9,000 ; Nablus 1,000 ;

AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY 191

Nazareth 1,380 ; Ramallah 412 ; Safed 4,000 ; Tiberias
350 ; Zummarin 8,700 : total, 62,237.

Fruit Trees. —

Olives. — The most important fruit-tree in the hill-country
is the olive. Apart, however, from the destruction of olive
trees during the war, it is evident that the development of
the olive industry has been at a standstill for many years.
The number of young trees is very small and the creation
of a source of supply of young plants is imperative.

Caroubs. — The caroub tree is not as extensively cultivated
in Palestine as it might be.

Almonds. — Although there is not such a wide market for
the produce of almond trees as for that of the olive, the
demand for the former is sufficiently great to justify a large
increase in the cultivation of the tree in Palestine. Ex-
cellent almond plantations exist at Ramleh, and almond
trees are found throughout the hill-country.

Grapes. — The cultivation of grapes for wine-making in
the hinterland of Jaffa is carried on scientifically, and
efforts are being encouraged for the cultivation of raisin
grapes on the hillsides.

Figs. — Fig trees are cultivated everywhere in Palestine.
There are many varieties, but the most important one is
a dark-coloured drying fig which is sold commonly in the
local markets, but which is considered too dark in colour
for the European markets.

Oranges. — The farther development of the orange in-
dustry depends upon the extension of irrigation facilities.
The " Shamouti " orange is considered the best as an article
of export. No other country produces this class of orange,
so that there is no competition in European markets. The
quality of this orange is good, and its thick skin enables
it to travel without careful packing.

Apart from oranges, citrous fruits are not largely culti-
vated in Palestine. Italian lemons arc fairly common.
Mandarines, grape-fruit and limes are rare.

Apricots and Peaches. — The quality of the apricots grown
in Palestine is good. The production of dried or otherwise

192 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

iient. «|

preserved fruits or kernels is capable of development
Peaches are not extensively cultivated.

Apples and Pears. — These fruits are found in gardens
throughout the country, but the methods of cultivation
call for great improvement. The produce is consumed
locally, and it is not anticipated these fruits will assume
any importance for exportation.

Walnuts. — Walnuts grow very well and produce abun-
dantly in Palestine, especially at Jenin.

Chestnuts. — Chestnut trees are growing very slowly in
Palestine on account of non-irrigation.

Date Palms. — Date palms are cultivated along the coast
as far north as Haifa. There is also a considerable number
of palms at Jenin. The fruit produced at these places
appears to be of a very inferior quality and badly ripened.
The Jaffa dates are better. Steps are being taken to plant?
palm trees at Beersheba and in the Jordan Valley. \

Bananas. — Scattered clumps of bananas are met with
everywhere in gardens, and at Jaffa there is a plantation
of the Canary banana.

Vegetables. — The cultivation of vegetables in Palestine is
carried on in a primitive manner, except at Beersheba and
Gaza. Except as regards cabbages and cauliflowers, Pales-
tine vegetables are of indifferent quality.

Forest Species. — Palestine is the meeting ground of three
continents, and exhibits such variety of soil, rainfall, climate,
and physical conformation, from the coastal range and
sand-dunes to the deep chasm of the Jordan Valley, that
the singular richness and interest of its flora is not sur-
prising, j

The prevalent orders are Compositae, LeguminosaeA
Gramineae, Lahiatae, Umhelliferae, Boragineae, Cruciferae. '■

(i) Species constituting high forest. — Quercus coccifera ;
Quercus pseudococcifera ; Quercus aegilops ; Ceratonia
siliqua ; Pistacia terebinthus ; Olea Europaea ; Pinus
Halepensis ; Pinus pinea.

(ii) Species constituting undergrowth. — Pistacia lentis-
cy-s ; Pistacia mutica ; Rhus coriaria ; Styrax officinale ; ,

AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY 193

Arbutus unedo ; Arbutus Andrachne ; Rhamnus Palaestina ;
Crataegus azarolus ; Crataegus monogyna ; Phillyrea media ;
Lycium barbarum ; Laurus nobilis ; Cercis siliquastrum ;
Myrtus communis ; Clematis cirrhoda ; Clematis flammula ;
Clematis vitalba ; Paliurus aculeatus ; Calycotome villosa ;
Genista sphacelata ; Cistus villosus ; Cistus salviaefolius.

(iii) Tropical species found in the Jordan Valley. —
Balanites Aegyptiaca ; Zizyphus vulgaris ; Zizyphus Spina-
Christi ; Tamarix Jordanis ; Reaunuria Palaestina ;
Populus Euphratica ; Populus alba; Salix Safsaf ; Salix
alba ; Salix fragilis ; Salix triandra ; A cacia Seyal ;
A cacia albida ; Osyris alba ; Prosopis spicigera ; Capparis
spinosa ; Leptadenia pyrotechnica ; Glycyrrhiza echinata ;
Calotropis procera ; Retama raetam ; Abutilon fruticosum ;
A butilon muticum ; Periploca Graeca ; Cleome trinervia ;
Cleome droserifolia ; A Ihagi Maurorum ; Lycium Euro-
paeum ; A triplex Palaestinum ; A triplex leucocladum ;
A triplex halimus ; Statice Thouini ; Statice limonium ;
Statice spicata ; Zygophyllum dumosum ; Zygophyllum
album ; Zygophyllum coccineum ; Boerhavia repens ; Cassia
obovata ; lyidigojera argentea ; Moringa aptera ; Salvadora
Persica ; Ephedra caynpylopoda ; Ephedra alte ; A nastatica
hierochuntina.

(iv) Exotic species now sub-spontaneous. — Melia
azedarach ; Acacia saligna ; Parkinsonia aculeata ; Robimia
pseudoacacia ; Acacia Farnesiana ; Ailanthus glandulosa ;
Cupressus sempervirens .

(v) Sand-dune plants. — Ammophila arenaria ; Saccharum
A egyptiacum ; A rtemisia monosperme ; Imperata cylyndrica ;
Ononis matrix ; Eriantus Ravennae ; Scirpus holoschaenus ;
Pancum rigidum ; Tamarix tetragyna.

Collection of olives and extraction of oil. — The olive
tree begins to blossom in April and the fruit to form in
May. The olives are ripe and .collected in October and
November. Children climb the trees, while the men beat
the branches with heavy sticks and the women collect the
fruit from the ground in bags or baskets.

194 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

In consequence of this practice, the branches of the
trees are always broken down, and the yield is reduced
in the following year. The Bethlehemites, however, prune
their trees to within reach of the ground. The pruned
branches are used for feeding sheep during the period of
scarce pasturage. The olives are then taken to the houses
for pressing. Those who crush their olives early obtain a
yield of good oil, which is known as zeit itfah (virgin oil) ;
others, who delay the process, get an inferior product,
which is suitable for soap-making only. A short crop
and irregular supplies are often the cause of delay in
pressing.

The olives are brought down to the badd (press), which \
may or may not be in the same village. It is generally
agreed to give the owner of the press about io% of the oil,
as remuneration for the use of it.

In construction the olive press consists of a vertical wheel
of stone 125 cms. in diameter by 40 to 50 cms. in width,
worked by a horse or mule. The olives are poured in, and
the oil escapes at a point of exit for collection. The residue
of the olives is put into baskets for crushing in an iron or
oakwood twin-screw press till the bulk of the remaining oil
has been extracted. The oil is stored in jars, and the olive
waste, commonly known as jift, is used for fuel in bake-
houses.

Stock. — The following is a census of animals in Palestine
for 1920-21 :

milch cows ----- 24,681

ploughing oxen - - - _ 57,785

calves ------ 26,034

horses - - - - - - 6,548

mules ------ 3,934

donkeys - - - _ _ 32,689

sheep ------ 205,967

goats ------ 325,512

buffaloes - " - - - - 615

camels- - - - _ _ 8,846

'^S

AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY 195

The number of animals imported into Palestine through
the different Quarantine Stations in 1921 was :

horses ------ 2,636

mules ------ 5,943

donkeys ----- 26,629

sheep ------ 26,211

goats ------ 13,954

cattle - - - - - - 2,916

pigs ------ 278

camels 10,886

The number of animals slaughtered in Palestine during
192 1 was :

bulls and bullocks - - - 5,603

cows ------ 2,352

buffaloes ----- 63 '

calves ------ 482

sheep ------ 65,013

goats ------ 34,613

pigs ------ 259

camels- - _ _ _ _ 152

§ 10. Public Works and Harbours.

The Department of Public Works is organized into five
branches : constructional, electrical and mechanical, archi-
tectural, stores, accounts. An Engineer is appointed to
each Province.

Boads. — Limestone of varying hardness is in general the
only material available for road stone, except in parts of
the Galilee District, where basalt is obtainable, but the high
cost of carriage prevents its use in other parts of Palestine.
Roads in the alluvial maritime plain are much more ex-
pensive to construct and maintain than in the highlands
owing to the cost of carriage of road metal. For a list of
the principal roads cf. Part IV., § 3 [c).

Bridges. — Few bridges of any length exist in Palestine.
The largest bridge crossing the Jordan is the AUenby Bridge

196 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

{cf. Part L, § 7) on the road from Jerusalem to al-Salt, an
" Inglis Rectangular " girder bridge in three spans, 240 feet
long. Masonry arch bridges exist at Jisr al-Damieh, Jisr
Sheikh Husein, Jisr al-Mejamieh, Jisr Benat Yaqub, at
al-Gajir across the Jordan and at Jisr Saghir across the
Yarmuk.

Water-supply. — There is in process of materialization a
water-supply scheme for Jerusalem which will bring into
use for storage purposes the disused " Pools of Solomon,"
a few kilometres south of Bethlehem, whence water will be
pumped via the existing gravity main to the existing gravity
storage reservoirs in Jerusalem. This will double the piped
water-supply of the city. The pumping machinery is that
formerly installed at Romani for pumping water across the
Sinai Peninsula in the Kantara-Palestine Pipe Line, and has
been purchased from the Disposals Commission.

The Government advances loans in aid of Village Water
Supplies up to £E. 400, and the work is executed by the
Public Works Department.

Ports and Lights. — The coast of Palestine is a coast
without harbours ; on the 140 miles of coast-line there are
only three ports of any size, and all three are open road-
steads.

Jaffa (Lat. 32° 3' N. ; t^ong. 34° 47' E.) is situated
between a sea-wall on the N.E. side of the town and a
fringe of low rocks. The entrance of the port is N. of these
rocks, and there is also a passage between the rocks about
2 1 cables from their northern end. The port consists of a
Customs House and a jetty, and southward of the Customs
House is a short wharf, where lighters land their cargoes in
smooth water. In winter, owing to the absence of any
protection, communication with the shore is often stopped
for several consecutive days.

The light at Jaffa consists of an alternating red and white
light with a visibility of 30 miles, and is exhibited in the
S.W. part of the town, 69 ft. above high water. A signal
station exists at Jaffa, and signals are received and sent by
day and night.

PUBLIC WORKS AND HARBOURS 197

Haifa (Lat. 32° 49' 8" N. ; Long. 35° o' o" E.) is a safe
anchorage in summer in about 36 ft. of water with the end
of the railway pier bearing 207° true. The pier is 425 yards
long and runs in a N.E. direction from the town. The
Customs House is situated at the shore end of this jetty.
One 25-ton crane and another of 5 tons are provided by
the Palestine Railways for working cargo. The Railways
also provide electric light when necessary for night working.

The Haifa town light is a red flash light every 3 seconds.
It has a visibility of 6 miles, and is exhibited from a white
mast surmounting a tower of the old castle.

A temporary fixed white light with a range of 10 miles
is exhibited on Mt. Carmel at 490 ft. above high water from
a white stone tower a cable N.N.W. of the Carmelite Con-
vent. There is a signal station at Haifa.

Acre (Lat. 32° 55'.27''N. ; Long. 35° 4' 16" E.) is an
ancient port with a small mole on the eastern side of the
town. The harbour is shallow and gives shelter to small
coasting craft only.

There is an anchorage in 9-10 fathoms of water about
one mile S.W. of the lighthouse and of Talbot reef, with
the end of the west mole bearing 50° W.

The Acre light is a fixed red light visible at 10 miles, and
is shown from a white tower 33 ft. high on the rampart of
Acre town at 51 ft. above high water.

Gaza (Lat. 31° 30' o" N. ; Long. 34° 28' o" E.) is a small
harbour, through which is exported wheat, barley and daH
seed. There is a 7-fathom anchorage with sandy bottom,
which is fairly safe between May and October. During
other months, when westerly winds prevail, anchorage is
not safe. The best months are August, September and the
first twenty days in October. Anchorage bearings are two
white domes of al-Nesleh about 118'' true, i| miles distant.

In 1921, 422 steamers, of a total tonnage of 628,450,
visited Jaffa ; of these 156 were British of 185,052 registered
tonnage. 401 steamers, with a tonnage of 518,331, of whom
163 were British, of 194,698 registered tonnage, visited
Haifa.

198 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

Lesser Ports include al-Haram, al-Burj and Abu Zabura,
which are approximately lo, 20 and 30 miles N. of Jaffa,
are only used for the export of melons and wine, and during
July and August are very busy. No protection exists at
al-Haram and al-Burj, but Abu Zabura affords a fair shelter
for small craft during bad weather.

Caesarea (Lat. 32° 30' N. ; Long. 34° 53' E.), Tantura
(Lat. 32° 26' 30'' N. ; Long. 34° 54' 50" E.) and Athlit (Lat.
32° 42' N. ; Long. 34° 53' 30" E.) are ancient seaports whose
ruins still exist. The first has a summer anchorage in about
10 fathoms of water half a mile off the shore. There is a
Customs officer at Tantura, and grain and melons pass
through this port. These three ports have a small fishing
industry.

Inland Waterways. — The inland waterways consist of
Lake Huleh and Lake Tiberias in the north, and the Dead
Sea in the south, all connected by the River Jordan {cf.
Part I., § 2).

There are 6 fishing boats on Lake Huleh, and 3 motor-
boats and 37 sailing craft on Lake Tiberias. The motor-
boats operate between Tiberias, Semakh and Tabgha. One
steamer, 3 motor- boats and 14 sailing boats at present ply
on the Dead Sea.

§ II. Palestine Railways.

Lines in operation. — In July, 1920, the Palestine Rail-
way system was divided into 'three groups :

(i) the standard gauge (4' SY) lines laid by the British
Army and extending from Kantara on the Suez
Canal across the Sinai Peninsula to the Palestine
frontier at Rafa, and on to Haifa via Ludd ;

(2) the Jerusalem- Jaffa Railway, belonging originally to
a French Company {Chemin de fer de la Palestine),
formerly of 3' 6" gauge, and converted to standard
gauge by the British Army, with the exception of
the line between Ludd and Jaffa, which had been

PALESTINE RAILWAYS i99

torn up by the Turks and was relaid (by the Army)

with 60 centimetre track ; ^

(3) the captured enemy lines consisting of those portions

of the Hejaz Railway (3' 6") lying within Palestine.

On the ist October, 1920, the railways within Palestine

were transferred to the Civil Administration. The section

Kantara-Rafa remained the property of the British Army,

but an agreement was made whereby the Palestine Railways

should act as agents for the War Office and control the line,

sharing profits and losses equally. This Railway is called

the Sinai Military Railway {cf. also Part IV.).

The sections of line at present (1922) in operation by the
Palestine Railways are :

(i) Standard gauge (4' 8|") Kilometres.

Kan tara-Ludd -Haifa - - - 415

Rafa-Beersheba - - - - 60

Jaffa-Jerusalem - - - - 88

Ras al-Ain-Petach Tikvah - - 6^

(ii) Narrow gauge (3' 6") —

Haifa-Semakh - - - - 87

Haifa-Acre - - " - - - 22^

Afule-Nablus - - - - 78

Mesudieh-Tulkeram - - - . 20

Nasib-Ma'an (Hejaz Railway) - 323

Total - 1,100

The section of the Hejaz Railway between Nasib and
Ma'an in Trans- jordania was re-opened by the Palestine
Railways on the 15th June, 1921, since when two trains
have run weekly between Haifa and Amman. The opening
of this service entailed an agreement with the French
authorities in respect of the section of the Hejaz Railway
under trench control, viz. between al-Hammeh (beyond
Semakh) and Nasib.

* During August and September, 192 1, the section between Ludd and Jaffa was
relaid with standard gauge by the Military Authorities at the request of the Civil
Administration.

200 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

Construction work. — During the period of military con-
trol little expenditure had been incurred on upkeep, except
that which was absolutely necessary to keep the line open
and moderately safe for traffic.

Station buildings and staff accommodation at outlying
stations were scanty and improvised. Much new work,
therefore, has been carried out since the transfer. This
includes 38 new bridges, constructed of steel girders with
masonry abutments and piers ; 160 kilometres of track
between Rafa and Haifa have been ballasted with about
250,000 cubic metres of ballast, and drains have been
cleaned, cuts widened, and banks and ditches repaired ;
eight new stations have been opened and a new platform
and station building have been erected at Ludd.

The approximate number of bridges of over 2 metres span
is 129 ; of 2 metres span and under, 120 ; culverts, 140.

The standard gauge line is equipped throughout with the
electric staff instruments, and 36 instruments are being
installed on the narrow gauge lines.

The locomotive shops at Kantara are being dismantled
for removal to Haifa, and the stores are being moved there
also.

Experiments have been made on the Rehoboth road with
loco-tractors", and new branch lines laid to Beit Nabala
quarry and Sarafend cantonments.

Boiling stock. — A great deal of reconstruction was
necessary for the rolling stock handed over by the Military
authorities, and now, together with new purchases, the
stock of standard gauge consists of six new 2-8-4 loco-
motives of special type, capable of hauling 250 tons on the
steep Ludd-Jerusalem line ; 50 American and 36 old English
locomotives ; 58 passenger coaches and 1,880 wagons,
together with 200 steel box-covered wagons, vacuum fitted.
On the narrow gauge lines there are 31 locomotives, 24
passenger vehicles and 135 wagons.

Passenger Traffic. — The number of passengers carried in
192 1 was 553,832 below the figure for 1920. This can be
attributed, among other causes, to the large decrease in

PALESTINE RAILWAYS 201

military traffic, the raising of the fares in November, 1920,
and the large number of motors plying for hire.
Below are given the figures for the two years :

1920.
Passengers.

ist class -

37.918

1921.

Passengers.

ist cla^

35>57i

2nd class -

147,518

2nd class

42.313

3rd class -

1,077,828

3rd class

631,548

Total - 1,263,264 Total - 709,432

The passenger fares in force at present are approximately
100% over pre-war rates and are calculated throughout the
system on the following basis :

ist class - 12 milliemes per passenger per kilo.
2nd class - 8 „
3rd class - 5
The 3rd class fare is approximately twopence per mile.
Goods Traffic. — The comparative figures for goods traffic
are :

1920. 1921.

Merchandise 551,372 tons Merchandise 502,453 tons
Live stock - 64,447 head Live stock - 39,211 head
The rates are approximately 150% over pre-war rates,
but are subject to tariff minima, and are classified under
seven heads, as on English railways. It may be noted,
however, that cereals, which form the bulk of the traffic,
and oranges are carried at pre-war rates.

There are special rates for wine, returned empties, animals
by goods train, perishables by passenger train, melons and
grapes.

With two exceptions best Welsh steam coal has been used,
the consumption pe» mile beijig 52-33 lbs. on the narrow
gauge, and 63-33 lbs. on the standard gauge.

During 192 1 the approximate coal consumption was :
Narrow gauge - - - 7,048 tons

Standard gauge - - 22,454
Prices fluctuated considerably during 192 1, reaching the
highest point of ;^E, 7,429 per ton in January, 1921, and the

202 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

lowest, £E. 4,088, in December, 192 1. Coal is off-loaded at
Haifa.

Organization. — The Palestine Railways maintain their
own ttdiveWmg ghaffir force, and a higher standard of security
against thefts is now. being maintained.

Schools for apprentices in all mechanical trades and
traffic staff have been opened in Haifa. The Traffic Station
staff wear uniform.

A Provisioning Department supplies, by means of travel-
ling vans, food for the staffs working on all sections of the
railway, and buffets for the travelling public have been
opened at Semakh, Jerusalem, and Ludd under the same
management. Railway headquarters are at Haifa.

§ 12. Public Security.

The Department of Public Security is divided into four
branches : Police, Criminal Investigation, Gendarmerie and
Prisons, under the supervision of the Director of Public
Security.

{a) POLICE.

The Palestine Police were first raised in January, 191 8,
and consisted of one British officer and 340 other ranks. As
the British Army advanced the strength of the Police in-
creased, and at the conclusion of hostilities it consisted of
about 45 Palestinian officers and 1,048 other ranks, of which
480 were mounted.

In 1920 a separate cadre of British officers was sanctioned,
and at present the force consists of 16 British and 55 Pales-
tinian officers, and 1,144 other ranks, of whom 395 are
mounted.

Arms and Training. — The Police ai^ armed throughout
with 191 4 Lee-Enfield pattern rifles.

A Training School was opened for both Officers and
Constables in February, 1921, and as many recruits as
possible undergo a course of three months' duration. There
are separate classes for officers, and for men recommended
for promotion.

PUBLIC SECURITY 203

Duties. — The Police, besides fulfilling the ordinary duties
of a constabulary, such as the preservation of law and order
and the detection and prevention of crime, act, as far as
their numbers will allow, as escorts for the protection of
tax-collectors, serve summonses issued by the judicial
authorities, distribute Government notices, and escort
Governrnent treasure throughout the country.

Police Stations. —

Jerusalern District : Jerusalem — Ramallah — Bethlehem
— Hebron — Jericho.

Jaffa District : Jaffa — Ramleh — Tulkeram.

Beersheba District : Beersheba.

Gaza District : Gaza — Mejdel.

Samaria District : Nablus — Jenin — Selfit.

Phoenicia District : Haifa — Acre — Zichron Jacob.

Galilee District : Nazareth — Tiberias — Safed — Beisan.

{b) GENDARMERIE.

Britisli Gendarmerie. — A force of British gendarmerie for
service in Palestine was recruited in March, 1922, chiefly
from among constabulary and auxiliaries who have served
in Ireland. This force is entirely composed of infantry,
and its strength is 49 officers and 701 other ranks. Its
headquarters are at Bir Salem.

Palestine Gendarmerie. — The Palestine Gendarmerie,
which consists of cavalry, camelry and infantry units, was
formed on the ist July, 1921.

The enlistment of recruits is regulated so as to maintain
a certain proportion amongst the various sects and religious
creeds, which comprises Arabs, Jews, Circassians and Druses.

The present strength of the Palestine Gendarmerie is as
follows : 234 Arabs, 157 Jews, 72 Circassians and 27 Druses,
of whom 250 are mounted on horses and 50 on camels, the
remainder consisting of infantry.

The Central Prison, Jerusalem, is at present housed in one
of the hospices for Russian pilgrims, and has a holding

204 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

capacity of 250. The Acre prison, when completed, will
accommodate 350 convicts. There is a local prison at Jaffa
for no prisoners.

Two gaol labour companies are employed on making roads
and railway cuttings. The following trades are taught to
prisoners undergoing penal servitude : rug-weaving, boot-
making, carpentry, tailoring, blacksmith's and tinsmith's
work.

{d) CRIMINAL SECTION.

The Criminal Investigation Branch is divided into four
sections : records, special investigation, identification, and
statistical.

§ 13. Medical and Meteorological.

(a) MEDICAL.

Organization. — The Department of Health consists of the
directorate (Jerusalem), divided into the following sections :
(a) epidemic and health, {b) medical, (c) quarantine, relief
and lunacy, (d) laboratory, {e) medical stores, (/) sanitary
engineering.

The District organization under Principal Medical Officers
comprises : Medical Officers of Health in each District and
Sub-District, Medical Officers of hospital, education, epi-
demic, quarantine, and railway services, with a staff of
pharmacists, nurses, quarantine and sanitary Sub-
Inspectors, disinfectors, medical orderlies and guards.

An ophthalmic and special surgical service controls a
travelling ophthalmic hospital,, ophthalmic clinics, school
ophthalmic treatment, and special surgical instruction in
Government Hospitals.

Government Hospitals. — Government hospitals for
general patients, with infectious annexes, are established
in Jerusalem, Jaffa, Haifa, Ramleh, Acre, Nablus, Tulkeram,
Ramallah and Beersheba, and Government epidemic and
casualty posts at Hebron, Gaza, Jenin, Nazareth, Tiberias,
Safed, Beersheba, Mejdel and Jericho.

MEDICAL AND METEOROLOGICAL

205

Jewish.

A special children's chnic is held daily at the Jerusalem
Hospital Annex. Railway employes' clinics are conducted
at Haifa and Ludd.

Voluntary Hospitals. — Palestine is richly endowed with
voluntary hospitals, which are situated as follows :

Jerusalem - British Ophthalmic Hospital (English
Order of S. John of Jerusalem).
S. Louis (French) Hospital. -
Italian Hospital.
Rothschild Hospital (A.Z.M.U. or

Hadassa) .
English Mission Hospital (London Jews'

Society) .
Shaare Zedek, \

Mizghab Ladach,
Becur Cholim,

Jewish Ophthalmic Hospital,
Leper Hospital (International Moravian
Society) .
Bethlehem - French Hospital.
Tantur Hospital.
Hebron - United Free Church of Scotland.
Jaffa - English Hospital (Church Missionary

Society) .
French Hospital.
A.Z.M.U. Hospital.
German Hospital.
Gaza - - Church Missionary Society.
Haifa - S. Luke's Hospital (Jerusalem and the

East Mission).
Italian Surgical Hospital.
Nablus - Church Missionary Society.
Nazareth - British Hospital (Edinburgh Mission).
French Hospital (Sceurs de la Charite).
Austrian Hospital.
Tiberias - Scottish Mission Hospital.

A.Z.M.U. Hospital.
Safed - A.Z.M.U. Hospital.

2o6 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

Attendances. — The total number of daily attendances
for 1921 at Government dispensaries and clinics was 155,523, ■
of whom 4-4 were Jews, 1 48 Christians and 806 Moslems.

Burials. — The time and conduct of interments are regu-
lated by Public Health Ordinance No. i of 1918. Except
in the case of death of a Jew after 4 p.m. on Sabbath eve,
no burial may take place after sunset. For regulations of
re-interment of dead bodies, see Public Health Ordinance
No. 2.

Public Establishments and Unhealthy Trades. — The
Department controls by means of licences unhealthy trades •
and industries {cf. Public Notice in Official Gazette No. 23), ^
and, in particular, those concerned with the preparation and •
sale of food products, beverages and milk.

Slaughter-houses are also subject to a licence. \

Disinfection. — On outbreaks of infectious diseases, dis- ;i
infection is carried out gratuitously by the Department of I
Health. Means of disinfection by steam exist in each
District. Neglect to notify infectious diseases is punish- ;
able [vide Public Health Ordinance No. i).

Notifiable diseases are the following : anthrax, cerebro- j
spinal meningitis, chicken-pox, cholera, dengue, diphtheria,
dysentery, enteric fever (including paratyphoid fever),
German measles, glanders, hydrophobia, leprosy, Malta
fever, measles, mumps, plague, puerperal fever, relapsing '
fever, scarlet fever or scarlatina, small-pox, tubercle of lung, i
typhus, whooping cough, diarrhoea, erysipelas, pneumonia, 1
influenza, and malaria (including blackwater fever) . I

Rabies. — Owing to the considerable incidence of rabies j
amongst dogs, jackals and wolves throughout Palestine, |
poisoning of dogs is carried out on a large scale. Free |
anti-rabic treatment is granted at Government expense to ''•
the poor at the Pasteur Institute in Jerusalem, and a system
of treatment by carbolized emulsions is being instituted in :
the Districts.

The number of animals killed in anti-rabic measures
during 1921 was 2,818.

Vaccination and Inoculation. — Vaccination of infants

MEDICAL AND METEOROLOGICAL 207

against small-pox is compulsory within three months of
birth ; failure to be vaccinated entails penalties under
Public Health Ordinance No. i.

Anti- malarial Measures. — The Department conducts a
vigorous anti-malarial campaign by means of destruction of
mosquitoes, inhibition of mosquito breeding, medical treat-
ment of infected persons, drainage and reclamation of swamp
areas, etc.

Quinine for prophylactic use is on sale at all Post Offices,
in Palestine, and in the villages quinine solution is dis-
tributed by the Department free of charge.

Training in First Aid — Courses in first aid are con-
ducted by Medical Officers ; they are officially recognized
by the S. John's Ambulance Association. Successful can-
didates are awarded the certificate and badge of the
Association.

School Medical Service. — A special School Medical
Service is organized to train school teachers in hygiene, to
vaccinate pupils, to treat children affected with the eye
disease, malaria, and vermin, to advise parents on child
welfare, and to control infectious disease in schools. This ■
service operates special clinics for the treatment of trachoma
in the larger schools.

School for Midwives. — A School for Mid wives is estab-
lished in the Government Children's Hospital, Jerusalem.

Laboratory Section. — The Laboratory Section of the
Department comprises bacteriological, entomological and
chemical branches ; while smaller clinical laboratories are
attached to the larger hospitals for simple routine bacterio-
logical examinations, and milk and water tests.

Quarantine. — The Quarantine Service of Palestine las
been established in accordance with the International
Sanitary Convention of Paris, 1920. Medical observation
of travellers arriving in the country by sea or land (Kantara)
is carried out for a period of five days after their arrival, in
general at their destinations, but where circumstances
demand travellers may be detained and isolated in a Quar-
antine lazaret for the period of observation.

2o8 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

Travellers, whose isolation and detention is not necessary,
are required to report the state of their health on the ist,
3rd and 5th days after their arrival. Failure to report is
punishable by imprisonment or a fine.

There are Quarantine offices at Jaffa, Haifa, Acre, and
Gaza, and Quarantine lazarets in Haifa and Jaffa.

The Department undertakes each year the arrange'ments
for the Pilgrimage to Mecca. All Palestinian pilgrims leave
and return to the country as one party, and a Medical
Officer of Health accompanies them on their journey.

Relief. — Two orphanages are supported by Government
funds, and only children who are under 12 years of age and
who have lost both parents are considered as candidates
for admission. In addition the Government places at the
disposal of Governors a sum of money for cases of urgent
distress which are brought to their notice.

Registration of Medical Practitioners, etc. — The De-
partment conducts the registration of medical practitioners,
dentists, midwives and chemists, and grants licences for
practising in Palestine.

Registration of Births and Deaths. — The Department,
through its District offices, carries out the registration of
births and deaths, and issues certificates on payment of a
-small fee {cf. Public Health Ordinance No. 3).

{b) METEOROLOGICAL,

Climate. — The climate of Palestine is healthy and is
characterized not only by the extreme annual range of the
thermometer, but also by considerable variations of tem-
perature within the limits of a single day, amounting in
Jerusalem to 23° in summer, 14-5° in winter. On the hills
east of the Jordan, in the winter months the thermometer
sometimes falls below 32° in the night, rising again to
77° Fahr.

In Jerusalem snow is not an infrequent sight in winter,
although it melts quickly. In February, 1920, there was
the heaviest recorded fall of snow for 50 years, and the city
was cut off for some days.

MEDICAL AND METEOROLOGICAL

209

Jerusalem and the hills are very cold in December,
January, February and March, owing to the somewhat
heavy rainfall accompanied by cold winds ; the maritime
plain is considerably warmer.

The summer heat of the maritime plain is higher than
that of the mountains, but is tempered by the cool sea-
breezes, which also bring daily relief to Jerusalem.

In the winter months clothes suitable for a cold English
winter — tweeds, thick overcoats, etc. — are required ; in the
summer, white ducks and helmets are desirable, but warmer
clothing should be worn in the hills at sun-down.

Meteorological. — The following tables give the mean tem-
perature of Jerusalem throughout the year :

Mean

Rainy

Temperature.

Days.

January _ _ _

46° Fahr.

120

February _ _ _

49° ,

IO-5

March - - - -

51° .

8-9

April - - - -

60° ,

5-1

May - - - -

65° .

1-6

June - - - -

71° >

July - - - -

74° ,

August - - - -

74° ,

September _ _ -

71° ,

October -

66° ,

1-6

November _ _ _

56° ,

6-4

December _ _ _

48° ,

9-8

The highest observed temperature is 112° in August, 1881,
and the lowest 25° in March, 1920.

Rainfall. — Palestine has practically two seasons only, a
dry hot summer and a rainy winter. There are three dis-
tinct climatic zones : the maritime plain, the central range
of mountains, and the tropical Jordan valley. The spring
lasts from the beginning of March to the end of May, when
the hot season commences. From the middle of May to

L.P. O

2IO

THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

the end of October the sky is almost uninterruptedly
cloudless.

The average yearly rainfall is 26 inches.

Winds. — The prevailing winds are as follows :

January
February
March -
April -
May -
June -
July -
August
September
October
November
December

sou th-sou th- wes t .

westerly.

north-north-west.

southerly,
westerly.

The khamsin (scirocco), from the south-east, usually sets
in in May before the hot season, and sometimes blows for
several days without intermission, the thermometer rising
rapidly to 104° Fahr.

§ 14. Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones.

{a) POSTAL SERVICES.

Turkish Organization. — Prior to the British Occupation
of Palestine, Posts and Telegraphs were administered by
two separate Departments.

The postal service was, however, so unreliable that certain
of the European Powers maintained their own services
between Europe and various towns in Palestine. All foreign
mails were landed at and despatched from Jaffa, but the
Turkish Post Office was the only one allowed to use the
railway to Jerusalem, and the mails of other nationalities
had to be conveyed by road.

There was no public telephone service during the Turkish
regime.

POSTS, TELEGRAPHS AND TELEPHONES 211

Present Organization. — Posts, Telegraphs and Telephoner,
are now under one Department, the organization of which
is based on that of the British Post Ofhce.

Postal Services. —

(a) Inland : Despatches are exchanged daily, in some
cases twice daily, between all the principal towns.

(/3) Foreign : Despatches are exchanged daily (Sundays
excepted) between Palestine and Egypt, and thrice weekly
by rail, supplemented by steamer when available, between
Palestine and Syria. Despatches for the United Kingdom
are forwarded by the weekly P. and O. mail steamer from
Port-Said and by all intermediate steamers leaving Port-
Said or Alexandria. There are at least two, generally more,
despatches per week between Palestine and Europe.

A travelling Post Office, fully equipped with sorting
accommodation, etc., runs daily (Sundays excepted), in
each direction between Kantara and Haifa.

212

THE HANDBOOK OE PALESTINE

Rates of Postage and Limits of Size and Weight. -

(i) Inland :

Postage
miiriemes

Limits of size.

Limits of
weight.

Letters, not exceed-

ing 20 gms.

60 cm. in length

2 kilos.

Each additional

20 gms. or

part thereof -

30 cm. in width
or depth.

Post Cards (single) -

Minimum 10 cm.
in length, 7
cm. in width.
Maximum 14
cm. in length,
9 cm. in width.

Newspapers, per

copy

Same as letters

I kilo.

Printed papers, each

50 gms. or part

thereof -

Same as letters

I kilo.

Commercial papers.

each 50 gms. or

part thereof -

Same as letters

I kilo.

Samples, each 50

gms. or part

thereof -

Same as letters

2 kilos.

Blind literature,

each 500 gms. -

Same as letters

3 kilos.

Parcels, not ex-

Greatest length

ceeding I kilo -

20'

I metre.

Exceeding i kilo

but not ex-

Greatest length

5 kilos.

ceeding 3 kilos

and girth com-

Exceeding 3 kilos

bined — 2

but not ex-

metres.

ceeding 5 kilos

60^

POSTS, TELEGRAPHS AND TELEPHONES 213

(2) Foreign :

(All countries except Trans- jordania.)

Postage
milliemes.

' Liniiis of size.

Limits of
weight.

Letters, not ex-
ceeding 20 gms.
Each additional

British Empire
Countries, 60

2 kilos.

20 gms. or part
thereof -

cm. in length
by 45 cm. in
width or depth.
Other Coun-
tries— 45 cm.
in any direc-
tion. Letters
in form of a
roll — 75 cm.
X 10 cm. in
diameter.

Post Cards (single) -

Newspapers and

other printed

matter, each 50

Same as Inland.

gms. or part
thereof -

Same as for
letters

2 kilos. 1

Commercial papers :
Not exceeding

250 gms.
Each additional

do.

2 kilos.

50 gms. or part
thereof -

Samples :

Not exceeding
100 gms.

British Empire

2 kilos.

^Exceptionally, printtd volumes for any destination sent singly may weigh as
much as 3 kilo?.

214 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

(2) Foreign — continued.

Postage
milHemes.

Limits of size.

Limits of
weight.

Each additional

Countries and

50 gms. or part

Non - Union

thereof -

Countries 60
cm. in length,
30 cm. in
width ordepth.

Other Coun-

500

tries 30 cm.

grammes.

in length, 20

cm. in width.

10 cm. in

depth, unless

in form of a

roll, for which

limits are 30

and 15 cm.

Literature for the

Same [as for

3 kilos.

Blind

printed papers.

Each 500 grammes

or part thereof

Not excee

;ding

Ik. 3k.

5 k.

PT. PT

PT.

Parcels :

Egypt 10 10

10 ^

Sudan 12 12

India 18 18

United

Same as Inland

Same as

Kingdom 12^ 17
United

Inland.

States of

America i8| 283

36J^

POSTS, TELEGRAPHS AND TELEPHONES 215

(3) Trans-jordania :

Limits of size.

Limits of
weight.

Letters and other postal

matter except parcels :
Parcels : Not exceeding

I k. 3 k. 5 k.

PT. PT. PT.

468

Same as Inland
rates.

Postage rates and conditions of accept^ce of parcels for
other countries can be obtained on application at any Post
Office.

(4) Air Mail Service — Fortnightly :
Mesopotamia (Mraq) only.

Postal matter of all kinds, except parcels, is accepted.
Postage rate is the usual foreign rate for the class of
matter despatched, plus a special fee of 25 milliemes for
every 20 grammes or part of 20 grammes.

Correspondence should be clearly addressed in bold Latin
characters and endorsed " By Air Mail " in the upper
left-hand corner.

Dates of departure can be ascertained at any Post Office.
Money and Postal Orders. — Inland and Foreign money
orders are issued and paid at all Post Offices.

The maximum amount of any one order is £E,. 40, but
for some foreign countries it is less. Particulars can be
obtained on application at any Post Office.
The rates of commission charged are as follows :
Inland Orders :

Not exceeding _ _ _
Exceeding £E,. i but not ex-
ceeding - - - _
Exceeding £E. 5 but not ex-
ceeding - - - _
For each additional £liL. 10

up to - - - - ;/;E. 14 - 2 PT

£^-

I -

2PT.

£^-

5 ■

- 3PT.

£^-

10 -

- 4PT.

2i6 tHE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

Foreign Orders :

One per cent, of the amount of the order, fractions of a
pound being reckoned as a pound.

Telegraph Money Orders {Inland Service only) : "

Money may be transmitted by telegraph from any Post
Office which is a despatching office for telegrams, arid may
be made payable at any Post Office in Palestine which
effects the delivery of telegrams.

An advice of payment of any Money Order may be
obtained on payment of an additional fee of 13 milliemes.

British Postal Orders : These are issued and paid at all
post offices in Pafestine. The denominations available are
of 6d., I/-, 1/6, 2/-, 2/6, 3/-, 3/6, 4/-. 4/6, 5/-, 6/-. 7/-, 8/-,
9/-, 10/-, 12/6, 15/-, 17/6, 20/.

Palestine Postal Orders : Palestine Postal Orders pay-
able in Palestine only, are issued in all multiples of 5 piastres
from 5 PT. to 100 PT.

Registration. — All kinds of correspondence and parcels
may be registered for the Inland Service, and all, except
parcels, for the Foreign Service.

The fee for registration is 13 milliemes ; an acknowledg-
ment of receipt may be obtained on payment of an addi-
tional fee of 13 milliemes.

Insurance of Letters and Parcels (Inland Service only).
— Letters and parcels posted in Palestine for addresses in
Palestine can be insured, subject to the regulations, which
may be seen on application at any Post Office.

The sums payable for insurance, including registration
but not postage, are as follows :

Insurance Fee. Limit of Compensation.

PT. £K.

2 10

3 20

4 30

5 40

List of Post Offices. — Acre, Beersheba, Ber Yacob,
Bethlehem, Gaza, Haifa, Hebron, Hedera, Jaffa, Jaffa
(Ajami) B.O., Jenin, Jerusalem, Jerusalem (Mea Shearim)

POSTS, TELEGRAPHS AND TELEPHONES 217

B.O., Ludd Junction, Ludd village, Mejdel, Nablus, Naza-
reth, Petach Tikvah, Ramallah, Ramleh, Rehoboth,
Rishon-le-Zion, Roshpinah, Safed, Sarafend, Semakh,
Tel Aviv, Tiberias, Tulkeram, Zichron Jacob.

In general the hours of public business at sub-offices are
from 8 a.m. to i p.m. and 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. from Monday to
Friday, and from 8 a.m. to i p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
Hedera, Mea Shearim, Petach Tikvah, Rehoboth, Rishon-le-
Zion, Tel Aviv and Zichron Jacob are closed on Saturdays.
All the above offices issue and pay Money Orders and
accept and deliver telegrams, with the exception that
telegrams are not accepted or delivered at Mea Shearim
and Ludd village.

At Haifa, Jaffa and Jerusalem the following special
facilities exist :

Haifa and Jaffa - Letters registered up to. 6 p.m. Monday
to Friday, and i p.m. on Saturday and
. Sunday. Postage stamps sold, Poste
Restante correspondence delivered, and
telegrams accepted and delivered 8 a.m.
to 8 p.m. daily.
Jerusalem - Letters registered up to 6 p.m. Monday

to Friday, and i p.m. on Saturday and
Sunday. Postage stamps sold and
Poste Restante correspondence de-
livered 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily ; tele-
grams delivered up to 9 p.m. and
accepted at all hours of the day and
night.
Postage Stamps. — The following postage stamps are
issued by the Palestine Post Office :

I, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 13 milliemes, and i, 2, 5, 9, 10
and 20 piastres.

{b) POSTAGE STAMPS OF PALESTINE AND TRANS-JORDANIA,
1918-I922.

First Issue. — At an early date during the Military occu-
pation of Southern Palestine permission was granted to the

2l8

THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

civilian population for the transmission of postal matter
through the Army post of&ces.

A special series of stamps was designed and executed by
the Typographic Department of the Survey of Egypt, Cairo.
The paper was the same as the contemporary stamps of
Great Britain, being watermarked with the Crown and
Royal Cipher in horizontal rows.

The design consists of an upright rectangle of solid colour,
in the centre of which are the words " Postage Paid,"
enclosed in two white tablets above and below an Arabic
inscription of the same meaning. The initials E.E.F.
(Egyptian Expeditionary Force) were placed across the
head and foot of the stamp, and the value in English and
Arabic on either side.

The printing was done by the modern typographic pro-
cess. As no perforating machine was available a rouletting
apparatus was used. This issue of stamps was not placed
on sale in the ordinary manner ; the stamps were affixed
by the postal authorities themselves. This postal service
was carried on by 15 post offices.

Error. In the 5 millieme surcharge in the earlier sheet
issued on the loth stamp of the first row th6 word

MILLIEMES is Spelt MILLILMES.

loth Feb., igi8 -

I piastre

dark indigo
rouletted.

Control No. ]

ungummed

A. 18

Number issued

21,000

i6th Feb., 1918 -

5 mills, on

blue rouletted.

I piastre

ungummed

B. 18 A. ,

Number issued

6,000

5th March, 191 8 -

5 mills, on

blue rouletted.

I piastre

gummed

C. 18 B.

Number issued

55.600

5th March, 19 18 -

I piastre

blue rouletted.

gummed

C. 18

Number issued

338,000

13th May, 1918 -

5 mills.

blue gummed

D. 18.C.

Number issued

54.120

POSTS, TELEGRAPHS AND TELEPHONES 219

Second Issue. — On the i6th July, 191 8, a second series
of values was issued. The stamps were of the same design
as before and were printed by Messrs. Harrison & Sons, in
England, and perforated 15 x 14, the watermark being the
Crown and Royal Cipher.

Date of issue.

1 millieme

2 mills. -

3 mills. -

4 mills. -

5 mills. -

1 piastre

2 piastres
5 piastres
9 piastres

10 piastres
20 piastres

i6th July, 1918

17th Dec, 1918
i6th July, 1918
25th Sept., 191 8
9th Nov., 1918
i6th July, 1918

17th Dec., 1918

27th Dec, 1918

brown.

green.

reddish brown.

red.

orange.

blue black.

olive.

lilac red.

bistre.

light blue.

gray.

Shades : All values can be found in varying degrees of
shade, notably tne one, two and three milliemes.

Errors and plate varieties :

One millieme

Two milliemes

No. 124 : no stop after second
" E" at foot ;

b) No. 3 : dot on final " E" in

millieme ;

c) No. 91 : two dots over first Arabic

letter in centre.

a) Nos. 34 and 130 : TWQ ;

b) No. 214 : spider's web variety in

Arabic centre ;

c) No. 3 : comma for first stop in

upper panel ;

d) Nos. 118 and 191 : AI joined in

PAID ;

e) Nos. 49 and 145 : stroke through

" E" in lower panel.

220

THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

One piastre

Four milliemes - {a) Nos. iii and 207: Arabic "O"

added in upper right corner ;

b) No. 229 : no dot after second " E "
in upper label ;

c) No. 68 : no dot after first " E " in
upper label ;

d) No. 8 : broken " A " at upper
corner.

a) No. 215 : large Arabic " i " in
upper corner ;

b) No. 229 : no dot after first " E "
in lower label ;

c) No. 121 : no dot after first " E "
in upper label ;

d) No. 122 : no dot after second " E "
in upper label ;

e) Nos. 230 and 231 : no dot after
second " E " in lower label.

No. 200 : last Arabic character
" U " for " O " ;

b) No. 54 : no stop after second " E "
at foot ;

c) Nos. 56, 65, 90, 91, 92 : - no stop
after first " E " at foot ;

d) No. 66 : no stop after first and
second " E " at foot ;

e) No. 41 : heel to Arabic character
in centre.

stroke over Arabic character in
centre ;
b) short upper limb of letter " F."
missing " o " of 10 in lower value.
No. 2 : two dots over the first " E "
in lower panel.

I piastre shows an inverted watermark.
1920. — The current issue was over-
printed in Arabic, English and Hebrew at the commence-

Two piastres

Five piastres

Ten piastres
Twenty piastres -

Watermark error
1st September,

POSTS, TELEGRAPHS AND TELEPHONES 221

ment of the Civil Administration. The Orthodox Patri-
archate Press in Jerusalem obtained the contract, and the
lower values, up to i piastre, were affixed by the Post Office
officials so as to restrict the sale in large numbers. Towards
the end of September, 1920, this order was withdrawn.

The trilingual overprint was in three lines, Arabic above,
English in the centre and Hebrew below the Arabic ; the
overprint measures 8 mms. A silver powder was used for
the I piastre overprint.

Perforation 15 x 14 - - all values.

Perforation 14x14 - - 2 mills., 3 mills., 5 mills.

This perforation was done at Somerset House owing to
the breakdown of the 15 x 14 machine. During the first
three weeks of September most of the local letters in Jeru-
salem, Haifa and Jaffa were franked by a circular hand-
stamp only with the name of town and value inscribed,
printed in a reddish ink.

The error in the series is 3 mills, inverted. The overprint
errors and varieties are principally :

(a) overprinted inverted three milliemes (only one sheet

known) ;
{b) two lines only, Arabic and English ;
(c) four lines ;
{(l) various degrees of heavy and light printing.

December, 1920. — A new overprint block was made, the
Arabic overprint measuring 10 mm. and the English and
Arabic letters being more clearly printed.

Perforation 15 x 14 - all values.

Perforation 14x14 - 1,2,4,5, i piastre, 5 piastres.

There are two settings of this overprint, the second setting
being made in January, 1921, and differing from the first
by the spacing between the Hebrew and English being
longer. Only the three and five milliemes have so far been
found.

20th September, 1921. — The overprinting was trans-
ferred to Messrs. Harrison & Sons, England, and a different

222 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

type of letters adopted, the essential differences being the
sans-serf English printing in the centre line and the small
Arabic overprint. The whole printing is much clearer than
previously.

The colour of the i piastre stamp is changed from a dark
blue to an " electric blue " colour, so as to avoid using the
silver overprint as before.

All values have appeared with this London overprint.

August, 1922.—

Denomination. Colour.

1 millieme - - - - brown.

2 milliemes - - - - pale yellow.

3 ,, - _ - - blue green.

4 ,, - - - - pink.

5 ,, - - - - orange.

6 ,, - - - - light green.

7 ,, - - - - light chocolate.

8 „ - - - - red.

13 ,, - - - - dark blue.

1 piastre - - - - slate gray.

2 piastres - - - - olive.
5 „ - - - - purple.

9 ,, - - - - bistre.
10 ,, - - - - cobalt blue.
20 ,, - - - - mauve.

Trans-jordania. — In October, 1920, the current issue of
Palestine stamps was overprinted in Arabic in one line
across the centre of the stamp with the words " Shark
al-'Urdan," signifying ' East of Jordan.'

Perforations : 15 x 14 - i mill., 2 mills., 3 mills.,

4 mills., 5 mills., 2 piastres,

5 piastres.
Perforations : 14 x 14 - all values to 20 piastres.

The telegraphs and telephones of Palestine are operated
by the Government. The length of the main route wires

POSTS, TELEGRAPHS AND TELEPHONES 223

is 11,179 kilometres ; of local route wires, 1,656 kilometres.
There is telegraphic communication between all the larger
towns, an'd direct circuits exist between Jerusalem, Cairo
and Beirut.

Wireless communication with the United Kingdom and
ships at sea is provided via Egypt.

Palestine has an extensive telephone service (for rates of
installation, see the Telephone Directory), and the number
of instruments in use exceeds 1300.

Telegraph Rates. —

(a) Inland : 5 PT. for the first ten words and i PT. for
each additional two words or part thereof.

(6) Foreign :
Egypt and Syria - 8 PT. for the first eight words ;
'2 PT. for each additional two
words or part thereof.
United Kingdom (by Ordinary — 53 milliemes per word ;
cable from Egypt) Deferred — 27 milliemes per word.

Urgent — triple ordinary rates.
United Kingdom (by Ordinary — 41 milliemes per word ;
wireless from Egypt) Deferred — 21 milliemes per word.
Other Countries - Rates may be had on application at
any Telegraph Office.
Government Telegrams are accepted
at half the ordinary rate. De-
ferred rate tel-egrams must be in
plain language.

Telephones. — Trunk lines connect all the principal towns
and villages of Palestine, and public call offices exist at all
post offices and at Jericho.

The scale of trunk call charges can be seen at any post
office.

No person is entitled to use a trunk line continuously for
more than six minutes.

224 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

§15. Municipalities.

There are twenty-two municipalities in Palestine, namely.
Acre, Beersheba, Beisan, Beit-Jala, Bethlehem, Gaza, Haifa,
Hebron, Jerusalem, Jaffa, Jenin, Khan Yunis, Ludd, Mejdel,
Nazareth, Nablus, Ramallah, Ramleh, Safed, Shefa 'Amr,
Tiberias and Tulkeram.

The municipal councils possess extensive powers as regards
local taxation, but, as with the State system of taxation,
there is a multiplicity of small and often oppressive taxes
and fees, which in the aggregate yield a small return. A
Commission sat from November, 1920, to review the sources
of municipal revenue and the methods of collection, and to
report what changes were desirable. The Commission's
recommendations are being introduced gradually as circum-
stances appear desirable.

The municipalities are entirely responsible for their own
finances, subject to the approval of their budget by the
Governor of the District. They cannot levy any new con-
tribution without legislative sanction.

Ottoman Municipal Tax Law of 1915. — Under the
provisions of the Ottoman Municipal Tax Law of 1915,
Municipalities may impost taxes on

(i) immovable property, including an addition to the
State werko tax on buildings ; on the ground space of new
buildings leviable once only ; on premises utilized for dis-
pensing alcoholic beverages, at the rate of 5% of the rental
value ; on places of entertainment, etc. ; and

(ii) on movable property, including a tax of 2^% on
auction sales ; a fixed tax per kilogram on inflammable
liquids ; an ad valorem tax of 2|% on all animal sales ; a
tax on road transport ; a kantar tax, and various fees, such
as fees for slaughtering and on advertisements, etc.

Other Ottoman decrees authorize the collection of a fee
on leases registered at the office of the Municipality ; a tax
on betterment values, etc.

Changes introduced by the Military Administra-
tion.— The British Military Administration introduced two ^

MUNICIPALITIES 225

important innovations, which were based upon the provisions
of the Ottoman Law of 1915, namely, a general house rate
to replace the additional percentage made to the State
werko tax, and an octroi duty. The house rate is levied upon
the rental value of all building property, including the value
of the site. It replaces the percentage added to the werko
tax, and certain rates separately levied for street watering,
lighting and scavenging. The maximum rate at which the
tax can be levied is 'j\% of the rental value.

The institution of an octroi duty was intended primarily
to find means of revenue for the increasing financial needs
of municipalities.

Side by side with the octroi duty, which was levied on all
the articles, foreign or otherwise, at the rate of 1% ad
valorem, there existed a kantar tax, which is an Ottoman
tax on articles and produce, imposed generally on cereals,
levied on the basis of weight. On the recommendation of
the Municipal Tax Commission, octroi duty, kantar tax and
the tax on inflammable liquids were abolished, and were
replaced by the Foreign Additional Imports Duty {cf.
Part v., §4).

Road Transport Ordinance, 1921. — The Commission on
Municipalities recommended that the law in regard to the
licensing and regulation of road transport should be revised
and an amended scale of taxation introduced, and State and
Municipal Taxes be amalgamated as the position was com-
plicated and confused by a number of different enactments.
75% of the receipts collected witt^n Municipal areas are
allocated to Municipalities.

Licensing of Sea Craft. — The Ottoman Municipal Tax
Law included a licensing fee chargeable upon all vessels
plying between Turkish ports, or on inland seas, lakes and
rivers.

The Port Dues Ordinance, 1921, provides that this and
other port duties shall be collected by the Government, and
that half the receipts accruing from the registration of
Palestinian vessels shall be credited to the municipalities in
whose area the fees are collected.

L.P. p

226

THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

Municipal Receipts and Expenditure. — The receipts and
expenditure of the principal municipaHties in 1920-21 were
as follows :

Municipality.

Receipts

Expenditure

Acre -

_ ' _

3.185

2,782

Bethlehem

2,937

2,837

Gaza

6,025

4.647

Haifa

22,851

22,519

Hebron

3,652

3,122

Jerusalem -

40.332

40,000

Jaffa

29.318

28,621

Jenin

6,559

6,554

Ludd

4.382

2,075

Mejdel

3,068

1,856

Nazareth -

. _

2,285

2.253

Nablus -

9,654

9,158

Safed

3,84'

3,752

Tiberias -

6,396

6,282

Tulkeram -

, -

4,859

4.556

Local Councils. — The Local Councils Ordinance, 1921,
enables the High Commissioner on the recommendation of
the Governor to grant to villages the power of forming a
local council, which will be able to impose certain taxes
and exercise some of the rights of local government. As
regards quarters and suburbs within a municipal area, the
Ordinance provides for the constitution of a local council
which will be subordinate to the Municipality.

§ 16. Parliamentary Papers.

The following is a list of Parliamentary Papers relating
to Palestine :

1921. Cmd. 1 176. Draft Mandates for Mesopotamia
and Palestine.

PARLIAIVIENTARY PAPERS 227

1 92 1. Cmd. 1 1 95. Franco- British Convention of De-

cember 23, 1920, on certain
points connected with the Man-
dates for Syria and the Lebanon,
Palestine and Mesopotamia.

Cmd. 1499. Interim Report on the Civil Ad-
ministration of Palestine, ist
July, i92o-3oth June, 1921.

Cmd. 1500. Final Drafts of the Mandates for
Mesopotamia and Palestine.

Cmd. 1540. Reports of the Commission of
Inquiry with correspondence
relating to the disturbances in
Palestine in May, 1921.

1922. Cmd. 1700. Correspondence with the Palestine

Arab Delegation and the Zionist
Organization,
,, Cmd. 1708. Mandate for Palestine : Letter to
the Secretary-General of the
League of Nations.

§ 17. Trans- j or dania.

Thd territory of Trans-j ordania, which is included in the
area of the Palestine Mandate and is administratively linked
with Palestine through the High Commissioner, is bounded
on the north by the French sphere of Syria, on the west by
the Jordan and the Dead Sea, on the south by the territory
of the Hejaz ; its eastern boundary is undefined. Its
population is approximately 350,000, Moslem and Christian,
consisting partly of settled townspeople and agriculturists,
partly of semi-nomadic and nomadic Beduin. Its capital
is Amman, and other principal towns are al-Salt, Kerak,
Madaba, Irbid and Jerash.

When Palestine was occupied by the British military
administration, 'Trans-jordania was included within the
sphere of the Arab administration of Damascus, then under
the Emir Feisal, now King of 'Iraq. After the withdrawal

228 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

of the latter from Damascus in July, 1920, the High Com-
missioner for Palestine proceeded, in August of that year,
to al-Salt and announced to an assembly of notables and
sheikhs that His Majesty's Government favoured the estab-
lishment of a system of local self-government, assisted by
a few British officers as advisers.

Local councils, independent of one another, were accord-
ingly formed, and British officers were appointed to advise
the councils and to assist in the organization of a gendar-
merie. Owing, however, to the lack of cohesion between
the several districts of Trans-jordania, and to the limited
authority which the local councils enjoyed, this administra-
tion was not entirely successful, and was unable satisfactorily
to cope with all its difficulties.

In November, 1920, the Emir 'Abdallah, second son of
King Husein and brother of King Feisal, arrived from the
Hejaz at Ma'an, whence in March, 1921, he moved to
Amman, In the same month a conference took place in
Jerusalem between the Secretary of State for the Colonies,
who was then in Palestine, the High Commissioner and the
Emir 'Abdallah, at which an arrangement was made whereby
the Emir 'Abdallah undertook temporarily to assume the
administration of Trans-jordania, under the general direction
of the High Commissioner for Palestine as representing the
Mandatory Power. He was to be assisted by a small
number of British officers. Order and public security were
to be maintained, and there were to be no attacks against
Syria. In July, 192 1, Parliament voted a grant-in-aid of
;^i8o,ooo for the assistance of Trans-jordania. Since then
considerable improvement has been shown both in public
security and general administration. A Gendarmerie has
been raised ; more than 300 kilometres of the previously
derelict Hejaz railway within Trans-jordanian territory
have been repaired and are being worked by the Palestine
Railway administration ; and a system of telegraphs is
slowly being put into operation.

PART VI.

GEOLOGY, MINING AND NATURAL HISTORY.

§ I. Geology.^

Succession of Rocks. — The succession of rocks in descend -
. ing order hitherto recognized in Palestine is as follows :
V. Quaternary : Post-Glacial and Pleistocene ;
IV. Cainozoic : Pliocene, probably Miocene, Eocene ;

{Upper : Senonian, Tiir-
onian, Cenomanian ;
Lower ;
(i) Jurassic ;
II. Palaeozoic : Cambrian probably (Hull considered it
Carboniferous) ;
I. Pre-Cambrian.

I. Pre-Cambrian Rocks : These oldest rocks are found in
the east side of the Ghor, from the Lisan Peninsula, near
the south end of the Dead Sea, southward.

They consist of crystalline schists, gneiss and granite.
Grey granite may be seen forming a dark rugged foothill
in the east wall of the Ghor just north of Wadi Hesi at the
south end of the Dead Sea.

The above rocks are cut by red and pink granite and-
felsites. In addition to the felsite, which is an old volcanic
rock, there are occasional masses of volcanic agglomerate,

* This section is based on the sketch of the geology of Palestine by Major R. W.
Brock, R.E., in vol. iii. of the Palestine Pocket Guide Books.

229

230 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

containing, besides blocks of felsite, some of granite. Such
a mass occurs at the base of Jebel Labrush near al-Salieh.

These ancient rocks formed the floor of an old continent
that suffered heavy erosion before being submerged in a
later pre-Cambrian and Cambrian sea. As its waters en-
croached on the old land, boulders accumulated on the
shore, over which, as the waters deepened, sands were
deposited. This has given rise to the formation of con-
glomerate and sandstone, which may be seen on Wadi Hesi.
Shoulders of rock protruding through the terrace deposits,
that join the Lisan peninsula to the east, are also of con-
glomerate.

II, Cambrian : As depth increased, beds of lime car-
bonate, the remains of the animal life of the sea, were laid
down ; and these have been preserved as a dark dolomite
which overlies the sandstone of Wadi Hesi. From the fossil
remains found in it, it is considered to be of Cambrian age. :

For succeeding geological ages the district as a whole
would appear to have been land since, except for s'ome -
Jurassic limestone on Mount Hermon and in the Lebanon ; ^
no rock formations are met with until we come to the
Cretaceous, and the first of these is a shallow water formation. ;

III. The Mesozoic series :

{a) LOWER CRETACEOUS.

Along the east coast of the Dead Sea is a uniform sand-
stone, to whose variegated hues much of the admired colour
effects of the " Mountains of Moab " are due. It extends
southward above the old rocks almost to the Gulf of Akaba.
On the west side of the Ghor it does not appear until the
Gulf of Akaba is approached (except perhaps under Jebel
Usdum). This great sandstone formation is spoken of as
the Nubian sandstone, as it is supposed to be the same as
this Egyptian rock,

{b) UPPER CRETACEOUS.

Following the deposition of the sandstone, this country,
in common with a large part of eastern Asia, northern Africa

GEOLOGY 231

and southern and middle Europe, was more deeply sub-
merged, and there was deposited the great thickness of
limestones which form the grea»ter part of Palestine, namely,
the plateau country east of the Ghor and the hill-country
of western Palestine.

These rocks may be subdivided, in descending order, as
follows :

Senonian : About 800 feet of soft white limestone and
chalk with numerous flint bands. A few beds show
incipient crystallization ; one bed has limestone
concretions up to six feet in diameter,

Turonian : About 700 feet of hard limestone and dolomite
with flint at certain horizons ; some bands of oolitic
limestone and marl ; the hard bands are crystallized
in places to marble : the upper beds weather reddish
or somewhat variegated.

Cenomanian : About 1 100 feet of hard yellowish limestone
and dolomite with bands of soft marl and chalk.

While from a little distance these subdivisions may usually
be broadly distinguished, especially the soft, white Senonian,
on the spot the line of demarcation is often difficult to pick
out without the aid of fossils, and fossils are not plentiful
except in certain -beds, and even here the forms are often
obscure. In the environs of Jerusalem fossils may be
obtained. At the base of the Senonian about Nebi Musa
and Mar Saba is a highly fossiliferous horizon. Below it
at Nebi Musa and on the new Jericho road near by is the
well-known black bituminous limestone, " Moses stone " or
" Dead Sea " stone, or " stink-stone." It weathers light
grey, but the fresh fracture is brown in the less bituminous
and jet black in the highly bituminous beds. Below this
bituminous limestone is a spotted brown one made up
largely of fish remains and foraminifera.

The dark flint is characteristic, especially if the Senonian
beds occur as nodules and bands. The latter are found
between the beds of the formation and are continuous over
long stretches. They sometimes attain a thickness of two

232 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

feet. As they resist weathering, they stand out con-
spicuously from the soft limestones. The flint is formed
by the solution and redeposition of silica from sponge and
other animal remains in the rocks.

It is interesting to note that in Cretaceous times the
conditions in Palestine and in England were similar. Both
were deeply under water, in both immense deposits of lime
carbonate were laid down, in both the latest beds are chalks
characterized by richness in flints.

The distribution of these rocks is easily understood v/hen
the structure is noted. The hill-country is formed by the
folding of the rocks into an arch or anticline. Off the
highest part of the arch the soft Senonian beds have been
removed by denudation, uncovering the harder Turonian
limestones and marbles. Thus, coming from the Coastal
Plain, the first beds met are the Senonian chalks and lime-
stones ; then, when the beds rise up in the limb of the
arch, the Turonian is exposed, and these beds form the
backbone of the hills. Beyond Jerusalem, on the gently
dropping eastern slope, the white Senonian is again seen,
in many places disturbed so that the flint bands are frilled,
curled and crumpled ; the lower harder beds of the Turonian
and Cenomanian form the rock terraces and wall of the
Ghor (except just north of the Dead Sea, where the Senonian
descends to the Jordan Valley), and the walls of the deeper
wadis.

At a few points, as on Mount Carmel, basalt is found in
the Turonian but not in the Senonian, suggesting some
volcanic activity in the Cretaceous between these two
periods.

IV. and V. Tertiary and Quaternary Series :

{a) EOCENE.

At a number of points in Samaria and northwards there
occurs a limestone which, from its nummulitic fossils, is
evidently of Eocene age. The most southerly occurrence
is on the hills about Nablus. Fossils may be collected on
Mount Gerizim.

GEOLOGY 233

(6) LATE TERTIARY AND RECENT.

It was probably soon after these Eocene limestones were
formed that the land was upraised from the sea and began
to take on its present aspect, for no widespread miocene
or later marine deposits have been found. Before com-
menting upon its recent history, which is somewhat com-
plicated and not fully worked out, it will be well to mention
the remaining rocks and other records upon which such a
discussion must be based.

Along the Coastal Plain, from below Gaza northward,
there are at intervals exposures of a yellowish, reddish, or
brownish weathering sandstone with a lime carbonate
cement. It is sometimes fairly hard, but it is generally
porous and soft. It is a comparatively recent formation
though sufficiently consolidated to show jointing. Its exact
age is as yet uncertain, but it is probably Pliocene or early
Pleistocene.

Younger than this are the sands, gravels and shell-beds
that mark an encroachment of the Mediterranean to an
elevation of 220 feet above its present level. These sea-
beds are well exposed between Jaffa and Ramleh. Near
the latter they are represented by a calcareous conglomerate
— the old beach. They are, no doubt, middle or late
Pleistocene.

The recent alluvium and sand-dunes may hide other
marine formations, just as they cover much of these just
mentioned.

{d) LACUSTRINE AND FLUVIATILE.

The highest terraces of the Ghor, marking the extreme
limits of the lake, consist of gravel or shingle, at an elevation
a little above that of the Mediterranean. Such are the
terraces about Safed, around Lake of Huleh, in the Araba
valley, at Ain al-Weibeh, and on Samrat al-Fiddan.

The lowermost beds at the mouths of the larger wadis
consist of boulders and sand, bearing evidence of the eroding

234 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE'

power of these streams when the dimate became moist
enough to furnish water in excess of the loss by evaporation,
and the Dead Sea began to rise and fill the Ghor.

The material that forms the main terraces of the Ghor,
so well exhibited along the Jordan and along the coast of
the Lisan peninsula, is quite different. While some clay
beds occur near the bottom, it consists almost entirely of
finely laminated marl, gypsum and salt. Over a consider-
able thickness the laminae average no more than J in., and
they are sometimes as fine as paper, but even the thinnest
are continuous. They are the precipitates deposited after
the climate had again become dry and the waters of the
lake were being evaporated.

A pair of laminae of marl, gypsum and salt no doubt
represent the deposits of one year, so that by counting these
an accurate estimate of the length of time occupied in their
formation could be obtained.

At several horizons in the Dead Sea formation large con-
cretions of gypsum are forming, with long crystals of gypsum
radiating from the centre. In these gypsum horizons
nodules and also thin bands of light flour sulphur occur.
Sulphur also forms coatings on the gypsum. One of these
horizons is about forty feet above the Jordan, and a second
about 1 20 feet above. The sulphur occurs in the same way
and at similar horizons down to the south end of the Dead
Sea.

Into the Dead Sea formation the Jordan has cut its
channel. One of its flood plains is 20 feet above the summer
level of the river and one 40 feet. Yellowish or reddi.sh
weathering stratified clays, deposited by the Jordan, occa-
sionally veneer the lowest terrace of Dead Sea formation,
or cover lower levels of it to a height of 70 feet.

{e) VOLCANIC ROCKS.

Masses of basalt are found capping the plateau of Moab,
and sending streams down the gorges and slopes toward
the Dead Sea ; the dark lava showing up conspicuously
against the light colours of the limestone or sandstone. It

GEOLOGY 235

may be observed near Wadi Mojeb (Arnon), the Plain of
Zara, Wadi Zerka, and on the north-east corner of the Dead
Sea, where it plunges beneath its waters.

Above Lake Tiberias the basaltic lavas occur on the west
side of the Jordan ; the lake has basalt on all sides of it.
The most important mass of basalt on the west is Jebel
Safed. At Jebel Jish, 5 miles north-west of Safed, an
extinct crater may be recognized.

In all these volcanic outpourings only basaltic rocks
have been met with. It will be noted also that, except
about Tiberias, volcanic activity has been confined to the
east side of the Ghor.

Vulcanism extended over a considerable period and up
to very recent, but not historical time (the nearest histori-
cally active volcano is near Medina). That it extended
over a considerable period is shown by the successive lava
flows and the erosion of an older before the outpouring of
a succeeding one. Th'at it continued until very recently is
shown by the freshness of the cones, by the lava flows,
constituting the most recent feature in the topography, and
by the hot springs that are still active in these volcanic
centres, while some of the springs in the Ghor may derive
their comparatively low temperatures from the rock tem-
perature at their source or from chemical change in the
gypsum of other salts. The very hot springs are associated
with the volcanic centres and undoubtedly are connected
with vulcanism. They afford evidence that volcanic heat
has not yet disappeared. In fact, volcanic activity might
again be renewed. The great earthquake of 1837 which
destroyed Tiberias, killing thousands, is a further reminder
that the district has not yet settled down to quiet life.

The Ghor. — The Ghor is a great fault or dislocation in
the earth's crust, along which the west side has relatively
sunk. This fault may be seen in the Araba valley on its
east side, where Cretaceous limestone is brought into con-
tact with the old Pre-Cambrian rocks. At the south-east
end of the Dead Sea these old rocks are still exposed.
Along the east side of the Dead Sea the lower Cretaceous

236 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

sandstone forms the base of the exposed formations, while
on the west the upper Cretaceous limestones occupy this
position. This discrepancy in the level of the same horizon
on the two sides of the Ghor amounts to 5000 feet at Mount
Hor and about 1000 feet along the shore of the Dead Sea.
The actual fissure is not visible from the Dead Sea north-
wards, as it is covered by the sea or its deposits ; but the
east wall of the Ghor is the fault scarp, for it cannot be
the result of erosion, since there has been no glacier in this
valley, neither has there been a river flowing into the sea,
as is shown by the rock-bed in the Akaba Valley at the
watershed 660 feet above sea-level or 1952 feet above the
Dead Sea. Indeed, the scarp itself shows that it is not
river-eroded, for there are no interlobes but a straight wall
between the tributary streams. The evidence for this
fissure is conclusive, but the simple fissure and the sinking
of the west side do not suffice to explain the complete
trough. For the deepest portion of the trough is not where
such sinking has been greatest, but where it is only 1000
feet ; indeed, where it is greatest is the highest point in
the trough. Nor is there any sign of warping. The full
explanation would appear to be that this is one of the rare
instances in which a trough has been formed by a sinking
in of a strip of the earth's crust between two parallel faults
(dislocations). The floor of the Ghor has dropped down.
This would account for its deepest portion (over 2600 feet
below sea-level) being in its centre. It would also answer
the question as to what has become of the materials that
once united the walls of the Ghor.

The formation of the Ghor commenced at the close of the
Tertiary or beginning of the Pleistocene, and reached
practically its present state before there set in the moist
period, that produced glacial conditions in northern Europe.
The climate must have been much the same as at present,
for the old caiions of the Zerka and the Mojeb are very
similar in size, shape and depth to their present ones.
When the moist or Pluvial period came and the level of the
old Dead Sea rose, they filled in their old caiions with gravel.

GEOLOGY 237

During this Pluvial period, which no doubt was con-
temporaneous with the glacial period in Europe, the Dead
Sea, as we have seen, rose to a height of about 1400 feet
above its present level, forming a fresh-water lake from
forty miles south of the Dead Sea to north of Lake Huleh,
nearly 200 miles long. The beach deposits, rock terraces
and cliffs show that it maintained this level for some
time.

Following the Pluvial period came a period so dry that
the waters of this great Jordan lake evaporated until only
a remnant was left, a Dead Sea smaller than it is at present.
During its desiccation various salts were precipitated,
forming the thick deposits of marl, gypsum and salt that
are now so marked a feature in the detailed topography of
the Ghor. The long sloping terraces indicate even and
continued lowering of the lake, the steep gradients pauses
in the process of evaporation. A number of fresh- water
shells, of which a considerable portion are existing species,
are found in these deposits.

The salts in the water were derived from the salts released
by the weathering of the rocks and brought in by the
streams, or supplied by the thermal springs and volcanic
emanations. The present water of the Dead Sea repre-
sents the remaining " mother liquor " of Jordan lake, with
such additional salts as have been brought in since it
reached its present stage, less the salts (mostly common
salt and gypsum) that have been and still are being pre-
cipitated on the floor of the Dead Sea.

Since Kitchener's survey in 1883-4 ^^e sea has risen 18
or 20 feet. This is positive evidence that the climate has
been growing moister, but it is of course possible that this
may be of short duration or subject to periodic changes of
moisture and drought.

The water of the lagoon south of the Lisan peninsula is
only slightly over 30 feet deep, and the channel between
the Lisan and the west shore only 29 feet deep. It is quite
probable that within historical times the south end has
been dry land, and physically possible that tradition is

238 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

correct when it fixes the sites of Sodom and Gomorrah
beneath the oily waters of the Dead Sea.

The Ghor is still in a youthful condition. Its walls are
still precipitous ; tributaries have succeeded in excavating
only narrow canons, down which they plunge in waterfalls.
Faulting of the Dead Sea deposits and the earthquakes
which still occasionally disturb the district give warning
that the Assuring and faulting and deepening of the Ghor
may still be proceeding, and that its dark sides may once
more glow with streams of molten lava and the green
plateau of Damascus again be lighted up by a wide crescent
of volcanic fire.

§ 2. Mineral Resources.

Sand. — The coast-line is bordered by dunes, much of the
sand of which is suitable for glass making. Figures given
by Dr. R. Sabath show that the total oxide of iron and
alumina vary from -42 to 1-5% ; very pure limestones exist,
and soda products may soon become available from utiliza-
tion of Dead Sea salts. These sands also provide an un-
limited supply for building purposes.

Limestone. — The limestone beds of Cenomanian and
Turonian age furnish the principal building stones of
Jerusalem and other towns.

They are known under the general names of mizzi, a hard
limestone, and kakidi, a soft limestone.

The various divisions of the mizzi building stones appear
to be somewhat confused by masons. They are

(i) mizzi ahmar — a red-flecked marble ;

mizzi yasini — well bedded red and grey limestone,
(ii) mizzi Yahudi — ^thick bedded dark grey or yellow

limestone traversed by veinlets of calcite ;
'iii) meleki — a hippurite marble ;
(iv) mizzi helu—a, white compact splintery limestone with

chalcedonic nodules of Turonian age ;
(v) kakuU — a soft whitish limestone which quarries in
slabs and is used for lintels, etc.

MINERAL RESOURCES 239

Higher up in the series occur phosphatic beds of Danian
age, which form a hard but rather sombre building stone
of a brown to black colour. In places the beds are entirely
altered to apatite and provide beautiful green and red
building stones, such as the mizzi akhdar of Beit Suhar.
They are usually described as marbles, but are harder and
more durable. In Galilee, where basalt is the prevalent
rock, this is utilized both for road making and building
purposes.

In the hilly parts of Samaria and Judaea as well as the
southern part of Trans-jordania surface rocks are mostly
limestone, which provides good material for burning to fat
limes. Dolomite limestone and marl beds also occur, and,
though the latter are often associated with gypsum, much of
the material could probably be used for the manufacture
of Portland Cement.

Thin bedded clays also occur in the Jordan valley and
could be utilized for pottery, etc.

Phosphatic Deposits. — Immediately overlying the top
flint beds of the Campanian division of the Senonian forma-
tion are the beds containing bones, coprolites, etc., of
phosphatic composition. These beds are very widespread
both in Palestine and Trans-jordania. They have never
been properly surveyed. Hence the information available
only deals with a few scattered localities. Blanckenhorn
examined samples from Nebi Musa and found 30% tri-calcic
phosphate in beds 20 feet thick. It is, however, believed
that much richer beds than these occur in Palestine. In
Trans-jordania more careful examination has been made ;
and at Abu Tara three beds 10 metres, 7 metres, 3 metres
in thickness occur, carrying an average of 51% tri-calcium
phosphate. At Khar bet Botin the plateau contains beds
3 metres thick with 54-6% tri-calcic phosphate. Most of
these deposits are close to the surface, and could very easily
be quarried.

Bitumen. — Above the bone-beds there occurs in many
parts of Palestine a shaly or bedded bituminous limestone,
containing 10 to 30% of oil and bitumen. The best known

240 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

localities are at Nebi Musa, al-Salt, Wadi al-Quneitra, Safed,
the Yarmuk valley, Bethlehem, Wadi Mahawit, etc.

Some of the material is poor in quality, but much of it
would make excellent material for road asphalt. Some
deposits are shaly, but those which Blanckenhorn ex-
amined contained less than 2% of argillaceous material.
In composition some varieties resemble the Val de Travers
asphalt, and could be similarly utilized. The richer qualities
are often used as fuel ; the rock, once set on fire by means
of brushwood, will continue to burn.

Several attempts have been made to utilize the material
by distillation, the yield of oil being 8% or more, there being
also a valuable proportion of combustible gas and bituminous
tarry matter.

In addition to the bituminous limestone, bitumen
sufficiently pure to mine occurs in various parts of the
country.

Petroleum. — Besides the above occurrences of bitumen,
which are examples of inspissated oil, there occur gas
emanations and sepages of oil in several parts of the country,
but more particularly in the southern part of the Dead Sea
region. The dolomite at Ain-Gedi and Mas'ada drips oily
bitumen, ^nd the sandstone on the east shore of the Dead
Sea and at Jebel Usdum is bituminous.

The consensus of expert opinion is that oil occurs in
southern Palestine, but that only drilling will decide as to
what are the commercial aspects of the problem. It is
generally agreed that sunken blocks of the Ghor are
petroleum-bearing, and that oil will be obtained by drilling
into the Senonian-Turonian beds. The greater prospects of
oil occurring in large quantities in the anticlinal flexures to
the west are at present the principal attraction.

The Standard Oil Company is now prospecting over the
area granted by pre-war concessions around Kharnub, and
is optimistic as to the final outcome of its efforts.

Dead Sea Salts. — One of the greatest mineral assets of
Palestine is the salt of the Dead Sea {cf. § i above). The
average percentage of salts in the strong brine is at least

MINERAL RESOURCES 241

25%, of which 34% is sodium chloride, 4% to 7% potassium
chloride, and up to 1% or more magnesium bromide.

The volume of the Dead Sea is somewhere in the region
of 120,000,000,000 cubic metres; hence the area contains
roughly 30,000,000,000 tons of mixed salts, of which possibly
1,500,000,000 tons are potassium chloride. Palestine is
thus the richest country in the world for potash resources.
These also occur under the most favourable conditions.
The salts occur as a strong brine, immediately ready for
evaporation and crystallization for the production of pure
salts by the natural heat of the sun.

With the advent of cheap transport and abundant sup-
plies of electricity, other manufactures, such as electrolytic
production of alkali, are possible. The salt deposits of Jebel
Usdum also appear to be of considerable extent.

Metallic Minerals. — Palestine is not rich in metallic
minerals, as the following notes indicate :

Copper : Copper ores were worked by the ancients in the
older Palaeozoic rocks south of the Dead Sea in the
neighbourhood of Fenan. The metal was also ex-
tracted or smelted on the spot. The present state
of deposits is unknown. Copper ores are also said
to exist in the vicinity of Mt. Carmel.
Iron Ores are known to occur in small quantities in
many localities throughout Palestine, but there is
no information of deposits of any considerable
extent.
Gold has been reported, "but the localities given seem
unlikely, and authentic occurrences are yet to be
discovered.
The country has been so little prospected for metallic
minerals, particularly in the south and north-east, that
our present knowledge of the subject cannot be accepted
as an indication of its resources ; and it is possible that
farther exploration may reveal valuable deposits of ore.

I.. p.

242 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

§ 3. Mammalia.

Palestine exhibits a remarkable range of climate, eleva-
tion and topography. Fauna and flora in consequence
present a strange assembly of European, Asiatic and African
types, of tropical, sub-tropical and temperate character.
Few groups have as yet been exhaustively studied, and
much material of recent collection awaits detailed examina-
tion. In these circumstances, the present notes can only
be offered as a preliminary outline of a very intriguing field
of research.

The mammalian fauna of Palestine is remarkable for the
number of larger animals which are on the verge, or have
recently passed the verge, of extinction, a result due in
part to modern firearms, in part to the destruction of the
forests.

Among those which have become rare or extinct in
the last few decades are the roe deer {Cervus capreolus), the
fallow deer (C. dama), the leopard [Felis pardus), and the
Syrian bear {Ursus syriacus). The gazelle {Gazella dorcas)
and the Syrian ibex {Capra heden) are also much scarcer
than formerly.

Several carnivorous mammals are still far from rare, such
as the jungle cat {Felis chaus), the wild cat [F. bubastis
Ehrenbg.),the striped hyaena {Hyaena striata) , the mongoose
{Herpestes ichneumon), the wolf {Vulpes portali), the jackal
{Canis aureus), and one or two races of fox.

Among the smaller animals, may be mentioned several
species of hare, the porcupine {Acanthion leucurus), spiny
mice {A corny s), the dwarf hamster {Cricetulus migratorius) ,
many gerbils and jerboas in the south of the country, a
vole {Microtus syriacus : Brants), several species of dor-
mouse and of shrews, a race of the European hedgehog
and of the desert hedgehog Erinaceus auritus) , and a score
of bats. The most interesting of the bats is Rousettus
{Cynonycteris) aegyptiacus, a fruit-bat which is very destruc-
tive to figs and other ripe fruit, and spends the day in
caves,

MAMMALIA 243

The smaller animals of Palestine are still very imperfectly
known. The full list would be a long one, because desert
rodents and hedgehogs occur side by side with such northern
forms as the voles, the European hedgehogs and the dwarf
hamster.

The European house mouse {Mus musculus) and various
races of the black rat {Rattus rattus) have been imported,
and are abundant in the towns.

Among types recently described, Nesokia bacheri Nhrng,
a big, rat-like rodent from the southern shore of the Dead
Sea, is killed by the Beduin in large numbers. Procavia
Schmitzi Matsch, a hyrax-like animal, is found in the moun-
tains surrounding Lake Huleh. •

§ 4. Birds}-

The geographical position of Palestine accounts for the
very large number of migratory birds which have been
recorded. While the country can boast of only about one
hundred resident species, at least two hundred migrants,
some of which may breed locally in small numbers, have
been described on indubitable authority.

(w.v, — winter visitor, s.v, — summer visitor.)

1. Turdus viscivorus. Missel thrush ; occasional w.v.

2. Turdus philomelus. Song thrush; very common w.v.

3. Turdus pilaris. Fieldfare ; occasional w.v.

4. Turdus merula. Blackbird ; common w.v. and
locally common resident.

5. Monticola solitarius. Blue thrush ; common w.v.
and locally common resident.

6. Monticola saxatilis. Rock thrush ; uncommon
migrant, common in some years.

7. Oenanthe oenanthe. Common wheatear ; common
migrant.

•For fuller notes on some of the birds of Palestine see Col, R. Meinertzhageii,
Not^s on the Birds of Southern Palestine, in The Ibis for January, 1920

244 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

non 11

8. Oenanthe isabellina. Isabelline wheatear ; common

migrant and locally common resident.

_ ,7 , ■ , f Black-throated wheatear.

Q. Oenanthe hispamca. i -r^, , -, -, .

^Black-eared wheatear.

Very common s.v. in both forms ; the former is the more
common.

ID. Oenanthe deserti. Desert wheatear ; uncommon
resident.

11. Oenanthe fins chi. Arabian wheatear ; common w. v.
and resident in the south.

12. Oenanthe pleschanka. Eastern pied wheatear ; once
recorded from Rafa.

13. Oenunthe moesta. Tristram's wheatear : rare resident.

14. Oenanthe lugens. Pied wheatear ; locally common
resident.

15. Oenanthe monacha. Hooded wheatear ; rare resident.

16. Oenanthe leucopyga. White rumped wheatear ; un-
common resident near Dead Sea.

17. Cercomela melanura. Blackstart ; not uncommon
near the Dead Sea.

18. Saxicola rubetra. Whinchat ; uncommon migrant.

19. Saxicola torquata. Stonechat ; common w.v.

20. Phoenicurus phoenicurus. Common redstart ; com-
mon migrant.

21. Phoenicurus p. mesoleuca. Ehrenberg's redstart;
common migrant.

22. Phoenicurus ochruros. Black redstart ; common w.v.

23. Luscinia luscinia. Sprosser nightingale ; migrant.

24. Luscinia megarhyncha. Nightingale ; migrant (Tris-
tram states that it breeds in Palestine).

25. Luscinia s. suecica. Bluethroat ; fairly common w.v.

26. Luscinia s. volgae. White-spotted bluethroat ; w.v.
less common than the last.

27. Erithacus rubecula. Robin ; common w.v.

28. Prunella modularis. Hedge sparrow ; fairly common
w.v.

29. Sylvia communis. Whitethroat ; common migrant
and s.v.

BIRDS 245

30. Sylvia curruca. Lesser whitethroat ; common
migrant. (Perhaps breeds.)

31. Sylvia cantillahs. Subalpine warbler; uncommon
migrant and s.v.

32. Sylvia conspicillata. Spectacled warbler ; fairly
common resident.

33. Sylvia melanothorax . Palestine warbler (one pair
obtained by Tristram near the Dead Sea).

34. Sylvia melanocephala. Sardinian warbler ; fairly
common resident.

35. Sylvia melanocephala momus. Bowman's warbler ;
common resident.

36. Sylvia hortensis. Orphean warbler ; common migrant
and s.v.

37. Sylvia ruppelli. Ruppell's warbler ; uncommon
migrant.

38. Sylvia atricapilla. Blackcap ; common w.v. (a few
remain to breed).

39. Sylvia borin. Garden warbler ; common migrant
(Tristram states that it breeds in Palestine).

40. Sylvia nisoria. Barred warbler ; rare migrant.

41. Sylvia nana. Desert warbler; only recorded from
south end of Dead Sea.

42. A gr abates galactotes. Rufous warbler ; very common
s.v.

43. Scotocerca inquieta. Scrub warbler ; uncommon
resident.

44. Prinia gracilis. Graceful warbler ; common resi-
dent.

45. Cisticola cisticola. Fantailed warbler ; locally com-
mon resident.

46. Phylloscopus superciliosus. Yellow-browed warbler
(one obtained by Tristram at Jericho in 1864).

47. Phylloscopus collybita. Chifchaff ; common w.v.

48. Phylloscopus irochilus. Willow warbler ; common
migrant.

49. Phylloscopus sibilatrix. Wood warbler ; common
migrant in the plains.

246 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

50. Phylloscopus bonellii. Bonelli's warbler ; common
migrant and uncommon s.v.

51. Hypolais olivetorum. Olivetree warbler; common
migrant (a few remain to breed).

52. Hypolais languida. Upchir's warbler ; common s.v.
in the hills.

53. Hypolais pallida. Olivaceous warbler ; common s.v.
in the plains and Jordan valley.

54. Acrocephalus scirpaceus. Reed warbler ; common
migrant.

55. Acrocephalus palustris. Marsh warbler ; migrant.

56. Acrocephalus arundinacea. Great reed warbler;
common s.v.

57. Acrocephalus stentoreus. Clamorous reed warbler;
common s.v. in Huleh marshes.

58. Acrocephalus schoenicola. Sedge warbler; uncom-
mon migrant.

59. Lusciniola melanopogon. Moust ached warbler ; com-
mon in Beisan marshes in winter ; possibly resident.

60. Locustella fluviatilis . River warbler ; uncommon s.v.

61. Locustella luscinioides . Savi's warbler ; scarce s.v.

62. Cettia cettii. Cetti's warbler ; possibly resident.

63. Crater opus squamiceps. Palestine bush babbler ;
common near Jericho.

64. Parus major. Great tit ; common resident.

65. Troglodytes troglodytes. Wren ; rare w.v.

66. Motacilla alba. White wagtail ; common w.v. and
rare resident.

67. Motacilla vidua. White-winged wagtail (obtained
by Dr. Herschell in the Jordan valley).

68. Motacilla cinerea. Grey wagtail ; uncommon w.v.

69. Motacilla flava. Blueheaded yellow wagtail ; very
common migrant in the plains.

70. Motacilla melanocephala. Blackheaded wagtail ; un-
common migrant.

71. Anthus pratensis. Meadow pipit ; common w.v.

72. Anthus trivialis. Tree pipit ; common w.v.

73. Anthus cervinus. Redthroated pipit ; common w.v.

BIRDS 247

74. Anthus spinoletus . Water pipit ; uncommon w.v.

75. Anthus campestris. Tawny pipit ; common migrant
and scarce resident.

76. Anthus sordidus. Brown rock pipit ; common s.v. in
the hills ; said to winter in the plains and Jordan valley.

77. Pycnonotus xanthopygius. Palestine bulbul ; com-
mon resident.

78. Oriolus galhula. Golden oriole ; common spring
migrant.

79. Lanius excubitor elegans. Pallid shrike ; common
resident round Gaza and southward.

80. Lanius e. aucheri. Finsch's shrike ; common resident
in the Jordan valley.

81. Lanius minor. Lesser grey shrike ; irregular s.v. to
the plains.

82. Lanius senator. Woodchat shrike ; common s.v.

83. Lanius nubicus. Masked shrike ; common s.v.

84. Lanius collurio. Red-backed shrike ; common mi-
grant and locally common s.v.

85. Muscicapa striata. Spotted flycatcher ; common s.v.

86. Muscicapa hypoleuca. Pied flycatcher ; uncommon
migrant.

87. Muscicapa albicollis. Collared flycatcher ; uncom-
mon migrant.

88. Hirundo rustica. Common swallow ; common s.v.

89. Hirundo r. transitiva. Palestine swallow ; common
resident.

90. Hirundo daurica. Red-rumped swallow; common s.v.

91. Delichonurbica. House martin; uncommon migrant.

92. Riparia riparia. Sand martin ; fairly common
migrant (a few breed).

93. Riparia rupestris. Crag swallow ; fairly common
resident.

94. Riparia obsoleta. Pale crag swallow ; resident in
Dead Sea basin.

95. Cinnyris osea. Palestine sunbird ; common resident
in the Jordan valley and spreads over the rest of the country
in winter.

248 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

96. Carduelis carduelis. Goldfinch ; very common resi-
dent.

97. Acanthis cannabina. Linnet; common resident.

98. Serinus canarius. Serin ; common w.v.

99. Spinus spinus. Siskin ; rare w.v.

100. Chloris chloris. Greenfinch ; common resident,
loi. Coccothraustes coccothraustes. Hawfinch; occa-
sional visitor.

102. Passer domesticus. Sparrow ; very common resi-
dent.

103. Passer hispaniolensis . Spanish sparrow ; common
resident and w.v.

104. Passer moabiticus. Dead Sea sparrow ; resident
near Dead Sea.

105. Petronia petronia. Rock sparrow ; common s.v.

1 06. Fringilla coelebs. Chaffinch ; common w.v.

107. Carpodacus sinaiticus. Sinai rosenfinch ; rare resi-
dent between Beersheba and the Dead Sea.

108. Erythrospiza githaginea. Desert bullfinch ; uncom-
mon resident in the extreme south.

109. Rhodospiza obsoleta. Persian desert bullfinch ; un-
common w.v.

no. Emberiza melanocephala. Blackheaded bunting;
common s.v.

111. Emberiza calandra. Common bunting; common
resident.

112. Emberiza hortulana. Ortolan bunting; common
migrant.

113. Emberiza striolata. S.triped bunting; uncommon
resident near the Dead Sea.

114. Emberiza cia. Meadow bunting; fairly common
w.v.

115. Emberiza caesia. Cretzschmaer's bunting; com-
mon s.v.

116. Sturnus vulgaris. Starling; common w.v.

117. Sturnus unicolor. Sardinian starling ; scarce w.v.

118. Pastor roseus. Ros6-coloured starling; irregular
visitor, usually following locusts.

BIRDS 249

119. Amydrus iristrami. Tristram's grakle ; resident
near Dead Sea.

120. Garrulus atricapillus. Syrian jay ; common resi-
dent.

JE2I. Corvus monedula. Jackdaw; common w.v. and
locally resident.

122. Corvus frugilegus. Rook; common w.v.

.123. Corvus comix. Hooded crow ; common resident.

124. Corvus affinis. Fantail raven ; resident near Dead
Sea.

125. Corvus corax. Raven ; common resident.

126. Corvus c. umbrinus. Brown-necked raven ; com-
mon resident in the south.

127. Alaemon alaudipes. Bifasciated lark ; resident in
the southern desert.

128. Galerita cristata. Crested lark ; very common
resident.

129,. Alauda arvensis . Skylark; very common w.v.

130. Lullula arbor ea. Woodlark ; common w.v., possibly
breeds.

131. Ammomanes deserti. Desert lark ; common resident
in desert parts of the country.

132. Calandrella brachydactyla. Short-toed lark ; fairly
common s.v.

133. Calandrella minor. Lesser short- toed lark ; fairly
common in deserts ; resident.

134. Melanocorypha calandra. Calandra lark ; common
resident in northern Palestine.

135. Melanocorypha bimaculata. Eastern calandra lark ;
common resident on the coastal plain.

136. Apus apus. Common swift ; common s.v.

137. Apus melba. Alpine swift ; common s.v.

138. Apus affinis. White-rumped swift ; locally com-
mon s.v.

139. Caprimulgus europaeus. Common nightjar ; com-
mon migrant.

140. Caprimulgus ruficollis. Red-necked nightjar ; once
recorded from Jerusalem.

250 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

141. Caprimulgus tamaricis. Probably resident near
Dead Sea.

142. Dry abates syriacus. Syrian woodpecker ; common
resident.

143. Yunx torquilla. Wryneck ; common migrant and
a few winter in the Jordan valley.

144. Alcedo arthis. Common kingfisher ; common w. v.

145. Ceryle rudis. Pied kingfisher ; common resident.

146. Halcyon smyrnensis. Smyrna kingfisher ; common
resident.

147. Coracias garrula. Roller; common migrant and s. v.

148. Merops apiaster. Common bee-eater ; very com-
mon s.v.

149. Merops persicus. Blue-checked bee-eater ; uncom-
mon s.v.

150. Merops viridis. Green bee-eater ; possibly migrant.

151. Upupa epops. Hoopoe; common s.v.

152. Cuculus canorus. Cuckoo ; common migrant.

153. Clamator glandarius. Great spotted cuckoo ; com-
mon migrant and scarce resident.

154. Tyto alba. Barn owl ; common resident.

155. Ketupa zeylonensis . Brown fish owl ; resident in a
few wadis.

156. Asio otus. Longeared owl (Tristram found this
bird in Galilee).

157. Asio flammens. Shorteared owl ; migrant.

158. Otus scops. Scops owl ; common s.v.

159. Bubo ascalaphus. Egyptian eagle owl ; resident in
the southern desert.

160. Bubo ignavus. Eagle owl ; resident.

161. Athene glaux. Southern little owl; very common
resident.

162. Gypaetus barbatus. Bearded vulture (found by
Tristram near the Dead Sea).

163. Vultur monachus. Black vulture ; occasional.

164. Gyps fulvus. Griffon vulture; very common resident.

165. Neophron perenopterus. Egyptian vulture ; very
common s.v.

BIRDS 251

166. Circus aeruginosus. Marsh harrier ; very common
w.v. (a few are said to breed).

167. Circus pygargus. Montagu's harrier ; scarce mi-
grant.

168. Circus cyaneus. Hen harrier ; fairly common resi-
dent.

169. Circus macrourus. Pallid harrier ; common resi-
dent.

170. Buteo vulgaris. Common buzzard ; commop mi-
grant.

171. Buteo ferox. Longlegged buzzard ; common resi-
dent.

172. Pernis apivorus. Honey buzzard ; migrant.

173. Aquila chrysaetus. Golden eagle ; w.v.

174. Aquila heliaca. Imperial eagle; fairly common
resident.

175. Aqiiila clanga. Spotted eagle ; scarce resident,

176. Aquila rapax. Tawny eagle ; scarce resident.

177. Aquila fasciata. Bonelli's eagle ; common resident.

178. Hieraetus pennatus. Booted eagle ; uncommon
migrant.

179. Circaetus gallicus. Short -toed eagle ; very common
s.v.

180. Accipiter nisus. Sparrow hawk ; common w.v.

181. Milvus milvus. Red kite ; common w.v.

182. Milvus migrans. Black kite ; common resident.

183. Milvus m. aegypticus Egyptian kite ; occasional
in the south.

1.84. Elanus coervileus. Black-shouldered kite ; occa-
sional.

185. Falco peregrinus. Peregrine ; fairly common resi-
dent.

186. Falco hiarmicus. Lanner falcon ; common migrant,
locally resident.

187. Falco subbuteo. Hobby ; fairly common s.v.
i88. Falco eleanorae. Eleanora falcon ; rare s.v,

189. Falco columbarius. Merlin ; common w.v.

190. Falco vespertinus. Red-footed falcon ; rare s.v.

252 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

191. Falco tinnunculus . Kestrel; very common resident .

192. Falco naumanni. Lesser kestrel ; common s.v.

193. Pandion haliaetus. Osprey ; common w.v.

194. Phalacrocorax carbo. Cormorant ; common w.v.

195. Phalacrocorax pygmaeus. Little cormorant ; com-
mon w.v. (perhaps breeds in Huleh marshes).

196. Pelecanus onocrotalus. Rosy pelican ; fairly com-
mon w.v.

197. Pelecanus crispus. Dalmatian pelican ; fairly com-
mon w.v.

198. Plotus levaillantii. African darter ; w.v., to Huleh.

199. Ardea cinerea. Grey heron ; very common migrant.

200. Ardea purpurea. Purple heron ; common resident.

201. Egretta alba. Great white heron ; rare w.v.

202. Egretta garzetta. Little egret ; uncommon resident.

203. Bubulcus ibis. Buff backed heron ; uncommon w.v.

204. Ardeola ralloides. Squacco heron ; common mi-
grant (possibly breeds).

205. Nycticorax nycticorax. Night heron ; uncommon
migrant.

206. Ixobrychus minutus. Little bittern ; common resi-
dent.

207. Botaurus stellaris. Bittern ; common resident.

208. Ciconia ciconia. White stork ; very common
migrant.

209. Ciconia nigra. Black stork ; uncommon migrant.

210. Platalea leucorodia. Spoonbill ; rare w.v.

211. Plegadis falcinellus. Glossy ibis ; occasional w.v.

212. Phoenicopterus ruber. Flamingo ; uncommon w.v.

213. Anser cinereus. Grey goose ; "1 occa-

214. Anser segetum. Bean goose ; ^ sional

215. Anser albifrons. White-fronted goose ; J w.v.

216. Branta leucopsis. Barnacle goose ; fairly common
w.v.

217. Cygnus olor. Mute swan ; occasional w.v.

218. Cygnus musicus. Whooper swan ; occasional w.v.

219. Alopochen aegyptiaca. Egyptian goose ; occasional

BIRDS 253

220. Tadorna tadorna. Common shell-duck ; uncommon
w.v.

221. Tadorna casarca. Ruddy shell-duck; uncommon
resident.

222. Anas platyrhyncha. Mallard; common w.v.

223. Anas strepera. Gadwall ; common w.v.

224. Anas angustirostris. Marbled duck ; fairly common
resident.

225. Anas acuta. Pintail duck ; common w.v.

226. Anas querquedula. Garganey ; fairly common mi-
grant.

227. Anas crecca. Teal ; very common w.v.

228. Anas pmelope. Wigeon ; uncommon w.v.

229. Spatula clypeata. Shoveller ; fairly common w.v.

230. Nyroca ferina. Pochard ;, fairly common w.v.

231. Nyroca fuligula. Tufted duck ; very common w.v.

232. Nyroca nyroca. White-eyed duck ; common w.v.

233. Oedemia nigra. Scoter ; occasional w.v.

234. Erismatura leucocephala. White-headed duck ; said
to be resident.

235. Mergus serrator. Merganser ; common w.v.

236. Mergus albellus. Simew (obtained by Tristram).'

237. Columhapalumhus. Wood pigeon; common migrant.

238. Columha oenas. Stock dove ; common w.v.

239. Columba livia. Rock dove ; common resident.

240. Streptopelia turtur. Turtle dove ; very common s.v.

241. Streptopelia decaocto. Collared turtle dove; com-
mon resident in the Jordan valley.

242. Streptopelia senegalensis. Palm dove ; resident in
Jerusalem.

243. Pterocles orientalis. Black-bellied sandgrouse ;
resident in the southern desert.

244. Pterocles alchata. Pintailed sandgrouse ; common
resident in the south.

245. Pterocles senegallus. Senegal sandgrouse ; very
common resident in the south.

246. Pterocles exustus. Singed sandgrouse ; common
resident in the south.

254 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

247. Alectoris graeca. Chucar ; common resident.

248. Ammoperdrix heyi. Hey's partridge ; common
resident near Jericho.

249. Francolinus vulgaris. Francolin ; common resident
in marshes.

250. Coturnix coturnix. Quail ; very common migrant.

251. Rallus aquaticus. Water-rail; uncommon resident.

252. Porzana porzana. Spotted crake ; common migrant

253. Crex crex. Landrail ; common migrant.

254. Porphyrio caeruleus. Purple gallinule ; occurs in
Huleh marshes.

255. Gallinula chloropus. Moorhen ; common resident.

256. Fulica atra. Coot ; common w.v.

257. Megalornis grus. Crane ; fairly common w.v.

258. Anthropoides virgo. Demoiselle crane ; fairly com-
mon w.v.

259. Otis tarda. Great bustard ; possibly migrant.

260. Otis tetrax. Little bustard ; possibly resident.

261. Burhinus oedicnemus. Stone -curlew; common
resident.

262. Glareola pratincola. Pratincole ; common.s.v.

263. Cursorius gallicus. Courser ; common s.v. in the
south.

264. Charadrius apricarius. Golden plover ; fairly com-
mon w.v.

265. Charadrius helveticus. Grey plover ; not uncommon
w.v. on the coast.

266. Charadrius geojfroyi. GeofEroy's plover ; common
migrant.

267. Charadrius hiaticula. Ringed plover ; common w.v.

268. Charadrius curonica. Lesser ringed plover ; com-
mon w.v. (perhaps breeds).

269. Charadrius alexandrinus. Kentish plover ; com-
mon resident.

270. Charadrius morinellus. Dotterel ; common w.v.

271. Hoplopterus spinosus. Spur- winged plover; fairly
common resident.

272. Vanellus vanellus. Lapwing ; very common w.v,

BIRDS 255

273. Recurvirosta avocetta. Avocet ; uncommon w.v.

274. Himaniopus himantopus. Stilt ; fairly common
s.y.

275. Scolopax nisticola. Woodcock ; common w.v.

276. Gallinago gallinago. Snipe ; very common w.v.

277. Gallinago gallinula. Jack snipe; very common w.v.

278. Erolia alpina. Dunlin ; very common w.v.

279. Erolia ferruginea. Curlew sandpiper ; common
migrant.

280. Erolia minuta. Little stint ; very common w.v.

281. Philomachus pugnax . RuflE ; common migrant.

282. Calidris arenaria. Sanderling ; fairly common w.v.

283. Limicola falcinellus. Broad-billed sandpiper ; un-
common migrant.

284. Totanus hypoleucos. Common sandpiper ; common
migrant (probably breeds).

285. Totanus ochropus. Green sandpiper ; common w.v.

286. Totanus stagnatalis. Marsh sandpiper ; fairly com-
mon migrant.

287. • Totanus glareola. Wood sandpiper ; uncommon
migrant.

288. Totanus calidris. Redshank ; common w.v.

289. Totanus fuscus. Spotted redshank ; rare migrant.
"290. Totanus canescens. Greenshank ; uncommon mi-
grant.

291. Limosa limosa. Black-tailed godwit ; uncommon
w.v.

292. Numenius arquatus. Curlew ; fairly common w.v.

293. Numenius phaeopus. Whimbrel ; rare w.v.

294. Sterna fluviatilis. Common tern ; common s. v.

295. Sterna minuta. Little tern ; uncommon w.v.

296. Sterna media. Allied tern ;

297. Sterna anglica. Gull-billed tern ;

298. Sterna caspia. Caspian tern ;

299. Sterna bergii. Swift tern ;

300. Hydrochelidon hyhrida. Whiskered tern ; fairly
common resident.

301. Hydrochelidon nigra. Black tern ; uncommon s,v,

rare w.v.s.

256 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

302. Hydrochelidon leucoptera. Whitewinged black tern ;
fairly common migrant.

303. Larus ridibundus. Black-headed gull; common
w.v.

304. Larus melanocephalus. Adriatic gull ; possible
common w.v.

305. Larus ichthyaetus. Great black-headed gull ; com-
mon w.v. on sea of Galilee.

306. Larus canus. Common gull ; fairly common w.v.

307. Larus gelastes. Slender-billed gull ; uncommon w.v.

308. Larus cachinans. Yellow-legged herring gull ;
common w.v.

309. Larus argentatus. Herring giill ; uncommon w.v.

310. Larus fuscus. Lesser black-backed gull ; common
w.v.

311. Puffinus anglorum. Manx shearwater; one speci-
men found by Tristram.

312. Puffinus kuhlii. Mediterranean shearwater ; some-
times seen near shore.

313. Podiceps cristatus. Great crested grebe ; very
common w.v. (probably breeds on Huleh).

314. Podiceps nigricollis. Eared grebe ; common s.v.

315. Podiceps griseigena. Red-necked grebe ; rare w.v.

316. Podiceps fluviatilis. Little grebe ; common resident.

§ 5. Reptilia.

Venomous snakes are of comparatively rare occurrence in
Palestine and the number of species is small. Viperine
types are seldom found in densely populated areas, their
habitat being characteristically the true desert or stony
and unfrequented hills. In habit they are almost ex-
clusively nocturnal and viviparous. A collector of standing
states that, of hundreds of ophidia secured during a period
of twenty-one years, he has only obtained in the Jaffa
district four viperine specimens {Daboia xanthina and
Viper a confluenta), apparently driven from the hills by

REPTILIA 257

military operations. He had similarly been unable to
obtain a single viperine snake from the vicinity of
Jerusalem.

On the other hand, the valuable services rendered by the
colubrine snakes, as destroyers of field mice, locusts and
other insect pests, have been repeatedly advanced in pleas
for the protection of this group.

Ophidia.

1. Typhlops syriacus. Syrian blind snake; so-called
from its rudimentary eyes. This snake is found everywhere
in Palestine and feeds largely on insects.

2. Onychocephalus simoni. Onl}^ known to occur in the
Jaffa and Haifa areas ; feeds on insects.

3. Micrelaps mulleri. Generally found in the hills, but
also in the Jaffa area.

4. Rhyncocalamus melanocephalus . A small, black-
headed snake of very general occurrence ; feeds on worms
and insects.

5. Ablabes modestus. One variety {A. m. inornata :
Jan.) is only recorded from Jerusalem. A. m. deceme-
lineata, however, has been reported from Jerusalem, Plain
of Sharon and Lake Huleh ; A.m. quadrilineata occurs
throughout Galilee, Phoenicia and Jerusalem.

6. Lytorhynchus diadema. A brownish-yellow snake
with darker rhomboidal spots on the back, only known to
occur in the Jaffa district.

7. Periops parallelus. This colubrine snake is recog-
nizable by the small scutella between the inferior edge of
the eye and the superior labial scuta ; only found in the
hills.

8. Zamenis caudaelineatus . In rocky hills.

9. Z. carhonarius. A black coluber which devoured
enormous numbers of locusts during invasions of this insect
pest.

10, Z. gemonensis var. Asiana. Of general occurrence.
During the winter hundreds of specimens may be found
rolled up together in a single burrow.

258 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

rrenr.e. II

11. Z. dahlii. A grey-green snake of general occurrence.
Black ' ocelli ' with white margins are found on the
neck.

12. Z. ravergieri. A hill type characterized by a zigzag
line following the length of the back, in which each sinus
is marked by a prominent spot.

13. Tropidonotus tesselatus v. hydrus. Found in all rivers,
pools and ponds. Destructive to fish.

14. T. natrix. A less common water-snake than the
above, with similar habits.

15. Coelopeltis lacertina. A big coluber of general occur-
rence which destroys large numbers of field mice.

16. Psammophis moniliger : v. hierosolymitana. From
Jerusalem, Jaffa and Haifa.

17. Tarbophis vivax : v. syriaca. Of general occurrence.
This species and Typhlops syriacus are the only colubrine
snakes of nocturnal habit.

18. Eryx jaculus. Occurs in sandy areas on the plain of
Sharon. Simulates a viperine type by the small size of the
cephalic scutella, and the number of rows of escutcheons
between eye and oral fissure.

19. Naja haje. Confined to the desert south of Beersheba
and very rarely found.

20. Viper a euphratica. Found near Jericho.

21. Daboia xanthina. Commonly found near human
habitations, and is responsible for some loss of live stock in
stables ; fairly common in the south.

22. Vipera confluenta. Rarely found in the Jaffa area.

23. Cerastes hasselquistii. Occasionally found round the
Dead Sea and in the Wadi Araba. In Syria it is of very
common occurrence and is the only viper known to that
country.

24. Echis arenicola. Occurs from the Wadi Fara'a to the
Dead Sea in the Jordan valley.

Lacertidae.

25. Psammosaurus scincus. A huge lizard attaining a
length of a metre. Of common occurrence in sandy places.

REPTILIA

259

Feeds on birds, smaller reptiles, gerboas, rats and locusts.
Eaten by the Arabs and employed locally for medicinal
purposes.

26. Lacerta viridis. This green lizard is only found among
herbage on the hills.

27. L.judaica. Occurs in towns and frequents ruins and
broken walls.

28. L. agilis. In the Jerusalem area and round the Dead
Sea.

29. Ophiops elegans. Of general occurrence ; char-
acterized by the absence of eyelids.

30. Acanthodactylis syriacus. Of general occurrence in
sandy plains ; exhibits fringed toes.

31. Podarcus pardalis. A coastal type of general occur-
rence.

32. Pseudopus apus. A gigantic lizard of general but
rare occurrence ; distinguished by a deep neck and body
fold.

33. Ablepharus panonicus. In the Haifa area.

34. Eumeces schneideri. Common in sandy plains.

35. Euprepes fellowsi. Of general occurrence.

36. Ophiomorus miliaris. Common in Galilee.

37. Gongylus ocellatus. Abundant everywhere ; dis-
tinguished by regular, black and white, transverse bars.

38. Seps monodactylus . Abundant in marshes.

39. Sphenops capistratus . Found in the Jaffa area ;
passes rapidly through sand at considerable depths below
the surface.

40. Platyodactylus hasselquistii. Chiefly in towns. Of
nocturnal habit, catching moths and insects attracted by
artificial light ; utters a characteristic clicking sound.

41. Platydactylusmauritanicus. Occurs only in caves and
rock crevices.

42. Stellio vulgaris . A spiny gecko of common occurrence
on walls, ruins, etc. ; partial to locusts.

43. Chamaeleo vulgaris. Occurs everywhere ; attains an
abnormal size at Jericho.

26o

THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

§ 6. Fishes.

Varieties. — A large variety of edible fish occurs in the
coastal and lacustrine waters of Palestine. Both the tunny
and sardine, among other migratory types, visit the coast
at regular seasons, and the question of developing a very
primitive fishing industry is receiving attention. The
following species figure in the catch brought to the local
markets at Haifa, Jaffa and Gaza :

Arabic name. Scientific name.

Ataut. Lichia glauca, l>2ice-pede.

Buri. Mugil cephalus, Cuvier.

Bursh. Raja sp.

Dawakir. Epinephelus aeneus, Geoffroy.

Dhahaban. Mugil auratus, Risso.

Farriden. Pagellus erythrinus, L.

Geragh. Pristipoma Bennettii.

Intias.

Isfirna. Sphyraena vulgaris, L.

Kelb el Bahr. Phoca vitulina.

Lahat. Cirrhosa umhrina, L.

Lukus. S err anus sp.

Marmir. Pagellus mormyrus, L.

Muskar. Sciaena aquila, Cuvier.

Salbieh. Lichia vadigo, Risso.

Salfooh. RMnohatus cemiculus, Geoffroy.

Samak Musa. Solea vulgaris, Risso.

Saraghis. Sargus sp.

Sardyna. Clupea sardina, Cuvier.

Sultan Ibrahim. Mullus surmuletus, L.

Tarakhol. Caranx fusus, Geoff. S. Hillaire.

Tobara. Mugil capita, Cuvier.

Turgollos. Caranx rhonchus, Geoff. S. Hillaire.

Industry. — The fishing industry employs only 649 men
and 117 boats, of which 115 men and 26 boats are found
on the Lake of Tiberias. As no harbour exists on the whole
coast-line, craft are limited to open rowing boats which

FISHES 261

can be launched from the beach, and these in no case exceed
three tons in measurement. Faihng even slipways, the
difficulties of landing prohibit fishing in any but the finest
weather, while the size of boat places trawling out of the
question. An Ottoman Public Debt tax of 20% ad valorem
on the catch led to a deliberate policy of limiting production
with a view to maintaining what were practically famine
prices. This impost was consequently repealed by decree
in August, 1920 ; while the common practice of dynamiting
and poisoning were prohibited by the " Protection of
Fisheries Ordinance " promulgated in the same year. The
first requirement of the industry having been definitely
established as safe harbourage for fishing craft, the coast-
line was examined in detail, sites selected which lent them-
selves to economic development, and plans prepared for
works at Gaza, Jaffa and Haifa. An endeavour was then
made to interest foreign capital in the manifest opening for
profitable investment. All species of edible fish commonly
brought to the market were collected and identified : a
daily record of the varieties, size and weight of fish landed
at the three principal ports permitted the construction of
charts showing periodicity of migratory types, spawning
and maturity seasons ; while the establishment of meteoro-
logical stations at three points on the coast enables the
fishery service to complete a review of the conditions in
which any company attempting a development of fishing
on modern commercial lines would be called upon to work.
Consolidated and amended fishery regulations are being
based upon the results of this investigation.

§ 7. Insects.

The following species represent a preliminary examination
of insects of economic importance in Palestine, including
forms of both noxious and beneficial character. The field
of economic entomology is, as yet, almost untouched, with
the exception of a detailed investigation of the scale insects
by visiting entomologists from Egypt. Recent official

262

THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

appointments, however, should result in an early addition
to the present limited fund of information.

Lepidoptera.

Carcharodus altheae. Hb.
Daphnis nerii. L.
Euprepia oertzeni. Ld.
Ocnogyna loewii. Z.
Pericyma squalens. Led.
Hydrilla muculifera. Stgr.
Sesamia cretica. Led.
Thalpochares ostrina. Hb.
Dasycorsa modesta. Stgr.
Ptychopoda calunetaria. Stgr.
Mecyna polygonalis, Hb.,

var. gilvata. Fabr.
Scythris temper atella. Ld.
Lozopera mauritanica.

Wlgshm.

DiPTERA.

Mintho isis. Wied.
Bibio hortulanus. L.
Ceratitis capitata. Wied.
Ophyra leucostoma.
Lasioptera sp. nov.
Culicoides newsteadi. Austen.
Bombilius medius. L.

COLEOPTERA.

Sitodrepa panicea. L.
Agabus nebulosus. Forsk.
Agabus biguttatus. Oliv.
Philhydrus quadripunctatus .

Hbst.
Dry ops auriculatus. Geoffr.
Crypticus maculosus. Fairm.

Sisyphus schaeferi. L.
Onthophagus cruciatus.

Menetries.
Aphodius fimetarius. L.
Hydrophilus caraboides. L.
Aulonogyrus concinnus. Kl.
Cossyphus rugosulus . Peyron.
Tenebrio obscurus. L.
Anoxia orientalis. Cast.
Aethiessa floralis. F.
Oedemera virescens. L.
Cyphosoma euphratica. Lap.

et Gory.
Acmaeodera despecta. Bdi.
Acmaeodera Goryi. BruUe.
Dasytes delagrangei. Pic.
Scobicia chevrieri. Villa.
Ptirms latro. Fabr.
Pholicodes conicollis. Desbr.
Rhabdorrynchus anchusae.

Chevr.
Lixus constrictus. Bohem.
Hypera variabilis. Hbst.
Tychius fuscolineatus . Luc.
Larinus longirostris . Gyl-

lenh.
Baris traegardhi. Auriv.
Hypebaeus scitulus. Er,
Malachius flabellatus. Friv.
Stenodera puncticollis .

Chevr.
Stenodera oculifera. Ab.

Caucasica. Erch.
Teratolytta dives. BruUe.
Lydus algiricus. L.

INSECTS

263

Lydus suturalis. Reiche.
Halosimus luteus. Waltl.
Mylahris lederevi, var.

onerata.
Mylahris floralis . Pall .
Exosoma thoracica. Redtnb.
Chrysomela polita. L.

,, regalis. Oliv.

Cassida bella. Fald.
Gynandrophthalma limbata.

Stev.
Omophlus syriacus. Muls.,

var. versicolor. Kirsch.
Phytoecia virgula. Charp.
Agapanthia violacea. Fabr,
Agapanthia cardui. L.
Plagionotus hohelayei. Brulle.
Niphona picticornis. Muls.
Calathus fuscipes. Goeze.
Cicindela lunulata. Fisch.
Bembidium ^-guttatum. F.

Hymenoptera.
Dielis collaris. F.
Acroricnus syriacus. Mocs.
Tricholabioides pedunculata .

Kl.
Anthidium variegatum. F.
Ceratina tibialis. Mor.
parvula. Sur.
Eucera grisea. F.
Trichofoenus pyrenaicus.

Guerin.
Sycofaga sycomori. L.

Hemiptera.
Scantius aegyptius. L.
Pasira hasiptera. Stal.

Geocoris lineola Ramb, var.

distincta. Fieb.
Anisops producta. Fieb.
Velia rivulorum F. v., ven-

tralis. Put.
Prionotylus brevicornis. Muls.
Enoplops cornutus. H.S.
Stagonosomus bipunctatus,

var. consimilis. Costa.
Amaurocoris curtus. Brulle.
Cor anus angulatus. Stal.
Sciocoris helferi. Fieb.
Eurygaster integriceps. Put.
Ploiaria domestica. Scop.
Holotrichus luctuosus. Muls.

et Mayet.
Nemausus simplex. Horv.
Stenocephalus albipes. Fabr.
Sehirus bicolor. L.-
Patapius spinosus. Rossi.
Plinthisus hungaricus. Horv.
Sehirus dubius Scop. v.

melanoptera. H. S.
Eremocoris verbasci. F.
Notonecta glauca. L.
Lethaeus nitidus. Dougl. et

Scott.
Prostemma aeneicolle. Stein.

Orthoptera.
Festella festai. G. Tos.
Xiphidion fuscum. F.
Platycleis tesselata. Chafp.
Dociostaurus genei. Ocsk.

anaiolicus. Kr.
Pyrgomorpha granosa. St.
Platypterna pruinosa. Br.-
Watt.

264 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

Morphaeris fasciata, ah. Degeeriella socialis. Giebel.

sulcata. Thnbg. ,, decipiens.

Nitzsch,
idem. Colpocephalum subaequale.

PSEUDONEUROPTERA. BurHl.

Hemianax ephippiger. Burm. Philopterus ocellatus. Scop.
Lestes barbarus. Fabr. Laemobothrion titian. P.

tinnunculi.
Neuroptera. Linn.

Ascalaphus syriacus. Philopterus lari. O. Fabr,

M'Lach. philopleri. Menacanthus ovatus. Piag.

§ 8. Animal, Insect and Vegetable Pests.

The animal and insect pests of common occurrence in
Palestine include field mice, locusts, scales, ticks, a group
of borers and fruit flies. A plague of mice and rats, affect-
ing all edible crops, waxes and wanes apparently in pro-
portion to the activities of the rodents' natural enemies,
of which a tick is the most important. The identity and
life-history of the • latter interesting parasite is at the
moment under examination. Attempts to initiate epidemic
disease among field mice, by means of such preparations as
the Liverpool Virus, have met locally with the same lack ]
of success as in other countries. Various approved formulae
for poison pastes are consequently being tested for possible •
adoption in a poisoning campaign.

The migratory locust, which invades Palestine at lengthy
intervals, has been referred to the species Acridium migra-
torium, and apparently comes from the Nubian desert,
reaching this territory during the months of March and
April. No record of the local occurrence of a second
spfecies, Calopterius staticus, which inflicts much damage
in Anatolia, has been obtainable. The most recent in-
vasion of locusts took place in 1915, with a resultant loss
of practically the entire season's work. To obviate, if
possible, a repetition of this disaster, a campaign has
been organized, combining the various methods of control.

ANIMAL, INSECT AND VEGETABLE PESTS 265

such as trenching, poisoning and the use of flame
projectors.

More insidious, but none the less real, is the danger of
an uncontrolled spread of scale insects, which constitute a
menace to an important orange industry. The black scale
{Aspidiotus aonidum), which inflicts much damage in Egypt,
only occurs locally in Phoenicia and Galilee. A fumigation
campaign has consequently been undertaken in the hope
of extirpating this species before it spreads to the Jaffa
district where the bulk of orange groves occur. Local
outbreaks of the Cottony cushion scale {Icerya Purchasi)
are being successfully treated with colonies of the parasitic
lady-bird {Chilocorus bipustulatis) , which has been arti-
ficially propagated for the purpose.

One of the most serious pests of cereal crops in Palestine
is found in a moth {Scythris temper atella) , the larva of which
has destroyed large areas of growing wheat. Early planting
and a full rotation of crops afford the only apparent means
of control. Peach, olive and melon flies cause considerable
damage, but in most cases are parasitized, and this fact
gives promise of a useful weapon for employment against
this group of pests.

A number of parasitic weeds, including several types of
Dodder {Cuscuta monogyna), Broom rape {Orobanche lavan-
dtdacea) and Trixago {T. apule), assume an economic im-
portance. The primitive method of cultivation and
thrashing still obtaining throughout the country foster the
dissemination of such parasites, which can only be con-
trolled by better agricultural practice.

§ 9. Game Preservation.

A Game Preservation Commission has recently recom-
mended the amendment and consolidation of sections of
the Ottoman Code with reference to the protection of game
and the control of vermin.

Regulations recommended for proclamation under a draft
empowering Ordinance will prohibit the destruction at all

266 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

times of ibex, eagles, vultures, kestrels, owls, storks, cranes,
hoopoes, bee-eaters and spur-wing plovers ; and will afford
a close-season from the ist February to the 31st August
for all species of partridge, francolin, sand-grouse, hares and
gazelle.

The collection and sale of eggs of all game birds will be
prohibited. Rewards would be offered for the destruction
of vermin as scheduled in the regulations. Game licences
would be issued by Governors to residents in the district
approved by District Game Commissions, and sale licences
to licensed and resident butchers. All " closed forest
areas " will constitute game reserves or sanctuaries.

§ 10. Flora.

The wealth of the Palestinian flora is attributable to the
same causes which have endowed the country with an
extraordinary variety of bird and animal life. Geographical
position, variety of soil and range of climate, rainfall and
elevation account for the singular richness and interest of
the vegetation.

The geographical characteristics of Palestine enable the
flora of the country to be divided into three distinct groups.
The coast-land belongs to the region of the Mediterranean
flora, similar to the flora of Cyprus, Cilicia, Spain, Greece,
Sicily and North Africa.

The hill-country produces a typical oriental vegetation
of the steppes ; while in the depression of the Jordan valley
with its intense heat, we find a sub-tropical flora resembling
that of the Sudan and Abyssinia.

For the prevalent orders and for lists of the principal
trees and shrubs of Palestine, see Part V., § 9.

The classical work of the plants of the country is Dr. G.
Post's Flora of Syria and Palestine, published in Beirut.

PART VII.

MISCELLANEOUS.

§ I. Moslem, Orthodox and Jewish Kalendars.

Moslem Kalendar. — The Hejra, or flight of Mohammed
from Mecca to Medina, is reckoned to have taken place on
the night of the 20th June, 622 a.d. The Mohammedan
era, instituted seventeen years later by the Khalif 'Omar,
dates from the first day of the first lunar month, Muharram
(Thursday, 15th July, 622 a.d.). The years are lunar, con-
sisting of twelve lunar months, each commencing with the
approximate new moon, without any intercalation to keep
them to the same season with respect to the sun, so that they
retrograde through all the seasons in about 32^ years. They
are partitioned also into cycles of 30 years, 19 of which are
common years of 354 days each, and the other 11 intercalary
years, having an additional day added to the last month.

The Ottoman ' Financial [Malieh) Year,' an invention of
the Turkish Government, is divided into solar months, and
is now about three years behind the Mohammedan era.

To find the year of the Christian era corresponding to any
Mohammedan (Hejra) date, deduct 3 per cent, from the
Mohammedan year and add 621-54 to the result. Thus,
take A.H. 1318 :

1318 1318 1278-46

3 39-54 621-54 .

39-54 1278-46 1900-00

268

THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

Lunar Months {Shuhur Qamariyeh) :

Muharram

Safar _ _ _

Rabi' al-Awwal

Rabi' al-Thani

Jumada al-Awwal -

Jumada al-Thani -

Rajab _ - -

Sha'ban -

Ramadan

Shawwal

Zu (a)l-Qa'deh

Zu (a)l-Hejja -

- 30 days.

- 29 days.

- 30 days.

- 29 days.

- 30 days.

- 29 days.

- 30 days.

- 29 days.

- 30 days.

- 29 days.

- 30 days.

- 29 days (or, inter-

calary years, 30).

Solar Months [Shuhur Shamsiyeh)

Adar - - _ _

Nisan - - _ _

Ayar - _ _ _

Huzairan _ _ _

• Tammuz _ _ _

Ab- - -• -

Aylul - - - -

Teshrin al-Awwal -
Teshrin al-Thani
Kanun al-Awwal
Kanun al-Thani

Shbat - - - -

The year 1341 a.h.

- March.

- April.

- May.

- June.

- . - J"iy.

- August.

- September.

- October.

- November.

- December.

- January.

- February.

began on the 25th August, 1922.

Moslem Prayers [Salat). — The hours of prayer are :

1. Salat al-Fajr, between dawn and sunrise.

2. Salat al-Duhr, when the sun has begun

decline.

3. Salat al-'Asr, midway between Nos. 2 and 4.

4. Salat al-Maghreb, a few minutes after sunset.

5. Salat al-'Esha, when the night has closed in.

MOSLEM KALENDAR

269

Moslem Festivals. — The principal Moslem festivals are :

Festival.

New Year -----

Yom 'Ashura (date of Noah leaving
the Ark, and of the death of Husein
at Kerbela)

Mauled al-Nebi (Mohammed's birth-
day)

Lailat al-Raghaib (night of Moham-
med's conception)

Lailat al-Me'raj (night of Moham-
med's miraculous journey)

Lailat al-Baraat (" Night of De-
crees," when the guardian angels
receive from the Almighty tablets
recording the fate of their charges
in the coming year)

Ramadan -----

Lailat al-Qadr (" Night of Power,"
on which the requests of all wor-
shippers are believed to be granted)

'Id al-Fetr (Sheker Bairam — 3 days)

'Id al-Adha (Qurban Bairam — 3 days)

^ Descent of Holy Banner (Sanjaq
al-Sherif) from Jerusalem to Nebi
Musa

1 Return of Banner from Nebi Musa

Date,

I Muharram.

10 Muharram.

12 Rabi' al-Awwal.

Eve of first Friday in
Rajab.

27 Rajab.

15 Sha'ban.

1-30 Ramadan.
27 Ramadan.

1-3 Shawwal.

10-12 Zu al-Hejja.

Friday before Ortho-
dox Good Friday.

Orthodox Maundy-
Thursday.

Orthodox Kalendar. — The members of the Orthodox
Eastern Church, in Palestine and elsewhere, still retain the
Julian Kalendar (Old Style), and their reckoning is now
thirteen days behind the rest of Europe.

1 Peculiar to Palestine; cf. Part IV., § 9.

270 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

Orthodox Festivals. — The principal Orthodox festivals
are :

Christmas Day, New Year's Day, Epiphany or Theo-
phania. Purification, Annunciation, Palm Sunday, Good
Friday, Easter Day, S. George, Ascension, SS. Constantine
and Helen, Whitsunday, SS. Peter and Paul, Transfigura-
tion, Assumption, Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
Exaltation of the Holy Cross, S. James, S. Nicolas.

Orthodox Services.— The principal services of the
Orthodox Church are :

1. Matins {opOpo^), 6 a.m. to 7 a.m.

2. Eucharist (^ Oeia Xeirovpyla), 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.

3. Evensong {ea-Trepivo^), 4 V-^- to 4.30 p.m. (in

summer 5 p.m. to 5.30 p.m.).

Jewish Kalendar. — The Jewish year consists of 12
months, namely, Tishri (30), Heshvan (29), Kislev (30),
Tevet (29), Shevat (30), Adar (29), Nisan (30), Eeyar (29),
Sivan (30), Tamuz (29), Ab (30), Elul (29).

In enumerating the months it is usual to start with Nisan,
following God's command to Moses (Exodus xii., 2).

In spite of the fact that the ordinary year is a lunar year,
it is made to correspond with the solar year in the course
of a cycle of 19 years by making seven years in one cycle
leap-years. A leap-year is an ordinary year with Adar B
(30) added. A cycle terminates with the years in the
Jewish Kalendar (creation of the Universe) that are a
multiple of 19. The following years in any one cycle are
leap-years : Nos. i, 4, 7, 10, 12, 14, and 17. The last cycle
closed in 5671.

Thus 19 solar years (including 4-5 days in leap-years)
= 6939- 40 days ; 19 Jewish years= 6936 days. The dif-
ference of 3-4 days is made up by occasionally adding a
day to Heshvan. The addition of this day incidentally
serves another purpose. The Day of Atonement cannot
fall either on a Friday or a Sunday, and, when it would
normally fall on such a day, this additional Heshvan day
puts it off until the following Saturday or Monday. When

JEWISH KALENDAR

271

more than 3-4 days have been added this way in the course
of the cycle, and the same danger is in sight, a day is taken
off Kislev when necessary and replaced by an additional
day in Heshvan at a later date.

The year 5683 began on the 23rd September, 1922.

Jewish Festivals. — The Jewish festivals are divided into
three categories : {a) days of rest ; {b) festivals on which
work is permissible ; {c) fasts. The following is a complete
list :

Date.

Category (a).

Category (b).

Category (c).

Tishri

1-2

Rosh Hash-
ana- (New
Year).

10
15

Yom Kippur
(Day of
Atonement)

I St Day Ta-
bernacles
(Sukkot).

Yom Kippur.

16-21

8th Day Suk-
kot (Sim-
hat Tora).

2nd-7th Day
Sukkot.

Kislev

25 to

Hanuka

Tevet

(Macca-
beans).

A'sara Be-
tevet (Siege
of Jeru-
salem).

Shevat

Tu Bishevat
(Tree New
Year).

Adar

Ta'anit
Esther
(Fast of
Esther).

272

THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

Date.

Category {a).

Category (b).

Category (c).

Adar
>>

14
15

Purim.
Purim (in

Jerusalem

only) .

Nisan

ist Day Pass-
over.

16-20

2nd-6th Pass-
over.

Eeyar

7th Day Pass-
over.

Lag Laomer
(Outdoor
Day).

Sivan
Tamuz

•
9

Shavuot
(Pentecost).

Shiva' Asar
Betamuz
(Capitula-
tion of Jeru-
salem) .

Tisha' Beav
(Destruction
of the Tem-
ple).

§ 2. Official Holidays.

The official holidays are as follows :

1 . Common to all Communities : The King's Birthday

(3rd June).

2. Moslems [cf. § i ante) :

Return from Nebi Musa of the Sanjaq al-
Sherif (Holy Banner) ; 'Id al-Fetr (Sheker
Bairam), 3 days ; 'Id al-Adha (Qurban Bairam),
3 days ; Mauled al-Nebi.

OFFICIAL HOLIDAYS 273

3. Christians (observed according to Gregorian or

Julian Kalendar as the case may be) :

New Year's Day ; Epiphany ; Good Friday ;
Easter Monday ; Ascension Day ; Whit Mon-
day ; Christmas Day ; Boxing Day.

4. Jews :

Passover (2 days) ; Pentecost (i day) ; New
Year (2 days) ; Atonement (i day) ; Taber-
nacles (2 days).

• § 3. Transliteration.

The joint committee for Arabic and Hebrew translitera-
tion appointed by the Government of Palestine to recom-
mend a system for official use in the country has adopted
the following principles :

^ {a) ARABIC.

Several recognized systems of transliteration were studied
by the Committee, who, however, came to the conclusion
that, having regard to the special needs of the Palestine
Administration, there would have to be evolved a new
system, which took into account the paramount importance
of simplicity, the limitations of the typewriter, and, in
general, the exigencies of administrative routine. It was
felt that there was no room for the adoption of an exact
and strict system involving the use of diacritical marks
and conventional signs. At the same time, the Com-
mittee wished so to frame their system as to ensure a
standardized and uniform spelling of Arabic names in
English.

The system outlined below aims, therefore, at standards
of consistency and simplicity rather than of scholarly exacti-
tude. It is not intended to be an ideally perfect system ;
but it is believed that, in admitting a certain sacrifice of
precision, it achieves a greater gain in convenience,

L.P. s

74 THE HANDBOOK OF

PALESTINE m

(i) The Alphabet :

[N.B. — All English vowels are pronounced as in Italian.)

^ = s

.^ = b

^ = d

o = t

L = t

^ = th

k = z

C=^

• ? = '

C=^

ji = gh

^=kh

^ = f

^ = d

j=q

i = z

d = k "

J = ^

J=l

J = ^

^ = m :

^ = s

^ = n .

J, = sh

j = u or w
ij = ioyy

(ii) Vowel-sounds :

-^ (damma) = u

-^ (fatha) =a

}

— (kasra) =e

Examples :

J^ = 'Ali

^\5jl

= Awqaf

^^1 = Aqsa

^Jt^.

= Yarmuk

U^ = Haifa a1)1 j^ = 'Abdallah

^JX^ = Hamdi JJ^, = Khalil

j^U = Hamed jJU = Khaled

TRANSLITERATION 275

(6) HEBREW.

The vowels are deemed to be pronounced as in the ItaUan
alphabet.

5< = a

5 = k

^ = ei

p=kh

^ = i

D, ^ = m

K.iX = o

^ = n

X = u

D=s

l = b

^ = apostrophe after
the vowel

:i=g

3 = P

l = d

V = ts

n=h

p-q

) = v

n=r

T = z

t:^ = sh

n=h

b^=:S

b=t

n=t

(consonant) ^ = y

Sheva na' is transliterated by the addition of the " e "
to the consonant. Dagesh is indicated by doubling the
consonant, except in the case of ' sh,' which is underlined

to indicate the dagesh ; e.g. 1^p7, " leqasher " (to bind).

Proper names, geographical or otherwise, that have a
commonly accepted spelling and pronunciation, are main-
tained as commonly spelt and pronounced in English, e.g.
Tiberias, not Tiveria ; Jerusalem, not Yerushalayim ;
Isaiah, not Yesha'ia.

rce

276 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

§ 4. Newspapers and Periodicals.

Official (periodical) publications are the Official Gazet
of the Government of Palestine, published on the ist and
15th of each month in English, Arabic and Hebrew, and
the Commercial Bulletin of the Department of Commerce
and Industry, issued fortnightly.

The periodical publications include :

English : The Palestine Weekly.

Arabic: Al-Nafayes ; Lisan al-Arab ; Al-Sabah ; Beit

al-Maqdes ; Miraat al-Shark ; Rakib Sahyun ; ]

Falastin ; al-Akhbar ; Zaharat al-Jamil ; al-Karmel ; j

al-Nafir ; al-Salam. 1

Hebrew : Doar Hayom ; Haaretz ; Hattor ; Hashiloah ; |
Hapoel Hazair.

The provisions of the Ottoman Press Law of 1327 apply
to all publications, the most important being the necessity
for registration with the local authorities of all relevant
particulars of the publishers and responsible editors, and
the deposit of a security for good conduct. The Law pre-
scribes penalties for the usual forms of Press offences of
conduct and context.

§ 5. War Cemeteries in Palestine.

The War Cemeteries in Palestine are situated at Beer-
sheba, Gaza, Ramleh, Deir al-Belah, Jerusalem (Mt. of
Olives) (General and Indian), Sarona, Wilhelma and Haifa,
and are administered from Jaffa by representatives of the
Imperial War Graves Commission.

There are some 10,000 dead buried in these cemeteries,
whose welfare is the special care of a local organization, the
Anglo-Palestine War Graves Committee.

The sites of all the war cemeteries have been presented
to the Imperial War Graves Commission by the people
of Palestine, in pursuance of a resolution spontaneously

; of j

2er-
of

WAR CEMETERIES IN PALESTINE

277

proposed by the non-official members of the Advisory Council
in December, 1920. This act of generosity is commemor-
ated in the inscription which it is proposed to set up
at the entrance of each cemetery :

" The land on which this cemetery stands is a free gift
of the people of Palestine for the perpetual resting-
place of those of the Allied Armies who fell in the
War of 19 1 4-1 8 and are honoured here."
A Memorial Service for the fallen is conducted by the
Bishop in Jerusalem at the War Cemetery on the Mount of
Olives on the 15th April of each year, when offerings of
flowers are laid upon the graves.

§ 6. Foreign Consuls in Palestine.

France : A Consul-General and Consul in Jerusalem ;

Vice-Consuls at Haifa and Jaffa ; Con-
sular Agents at Nazareth, Safed and
Tiberias.
Greece : A Consul in Jerusalem.

Italy : A Consul-General in Jerusalem ; a Vice-

Consul at Haifa ; a Consular Agent at
Jaffa.
A Vice-Consul at Haifa.
A Consul in Jerusalem.
Vice-Consuls at Haifa and Jaffa ; Consular

Agents at Safed and Tiberias.
A Consul in Jerusalem ; a Vice-Consul at
Haifa.

Netherlands :
Norway :
Persia :

Spain :

Sweden :

United States

A Consul at Jaffa ; a Vice-Consul in Jeru-
salem.
A Consul and Vice-Consul in Jerusalem.

278 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

7. Boy Scouts and Girl Guides.

^BBI

Boy Scouts. — There are two organizations of Boy Scouts
in Palestine :

{a) The Baden-Powell Boy Scouts were started in Pales-
tine in April, 191 3, and now consist of thirty
troops, each about forty strong, working in most
of the chief centres in the country. The Baden-
Powell Boy Scouts are members of the " Boy
Scouts Association " founded by Sir Robert Baden-
Powell, and are in direct connexion with the
Imperial Headquarters in London. The Honorary
Secretary in Palestine is the Rev. R. O'Ferrall,
S. George's School, Jerusalem.
{b) The Jewish Boy Scouts are a similar organization, but
not directly dependent on London. They were
founded after the war, and are grouped in Jeru-
salem, Jaffa, and Haifa, and in the larger Jewish |
Colonies, in connexion with the Jewish Schools.
The Association contains a number of Girl Scout
troops and a Sea Scout troop. The Honorary 1
Secretary in Palestine is Mr. J. L. Bloom, c/o the
Department of Education, Jerusalem.
Both organizations are recognized by the High Com-
missioner, who is Chief Scout for Palestine ; and matters
which affect the welfare of both are discussed by a joint
Council, to which both send representatives.

Girl Guides. — In addition to the Girl Scout troops belong-
ing to the Jewish Boy Scout Association, Girl Guides were
started in Palestine in the year 1919 in direct connexion
with the Girl Guide Association in England. At present
there are three companies of Guides, all in Jerusalem, con-
nected with the British High School for Girls and the
Evelina de Rothschild School. A training camp for Guide
Officers was held at Ramallah in 192 1. The Honorary
Secretary in Palestine is Mrs. F. Rowlands, Jerusalem.

R.S.P.C.A. 279

§8. R.S.P.C.A.

A Jerusalem branch of the R.S.P.C.A. was founded in
1909, but ceased working in 191 5 on account of the war.
Anti-cruelty work was carried out under Army auspices
during the British Occupation. In 192 1 the Society was
re-started under the presidency of the High Commissioner,
Sir Herbert Samuel.

The Veterinary Hospital situated in Mamilla Street,
Jerusalem, has been taken over by the Society on lease
from the Municipality, and is now entirely under the
Society's own management. Only those animals are de-
tained which are suffering from serious causes. A minimum
charge for forage is made and treatment is provided free to
animals whose owners cannot afford to pay. The Hospital
is under the inspection of the veterinary officials of the
Government, and is open to visitors at all times by arrange-
ment with the Secretary.

The efforts of the Society are strictly limited by the
amount of voluntary support that is forthcoming from the
public.

The Honorary Treasurer is Mrs. K. L. Reynolds, S.
George's School, Jerusalem.

APPENDIX

MANDATE FOR PALESTINE

The Council of the League of Nations :

Whereas the Principal Allied Powers have agreed, for
the purpose of giving effect to the provisions of Article 22
of the Covenant of the League of Nations, to entrust to a
Mandatory selected by the said powers the administration
of the territory of Palestine, which formerly belonged to
the Turkish Empire, within such boundaries as may be
fixed by them ; and

Whereas the Principal Allied Powers have also agreed
that the Mandatory should be responsible for putting into
effect the declaration originally made on November 2, 191 7,
by the Government of His Britannic Majesty, and adopted
by the said Powers, in favour of the establishment in
Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, it being
clearly understood that nothing should be done which
might prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing
non- Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and
political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country ; and

Whereas recognition has thereby been given to the
historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine
and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home
in that country ; and

Whereas the Principal Allied Powers have selected His
Britannic Majesty as the Mandatory for Palestine ; and

Whereas the mandate in respect of Palestine has been
formulated in the following terms and submitted to the
Council of the League for approval ; and

280

APPENDIX 281

Whereas His Britannic Majesty has accepted the
mandate in respect of Palestine and undertaken to exercise
it on behalf of the League of Nations in conformity with
the following provisions ; and

Whereas by the aforementioned Article 22 (paragraph 8),
it is provided that the degree of authority, control or
administration, to be exercised by the Mandatory not having
been previously agreed upon by the Members of the League
shall be explicitly defined by the Council of the League of
Nations ;

Confirming the said mandate, defines its terms as follows :

Article i.
The Mandatory shall have full powers of legislation and
of administration, save as they may be limited by the
terms of this mandate;

Article 2.
The Mandatory shall be responsible for placing the
country under such political, administrative and economic
conditions as will secure the establishment of the Jewish
national home, as laid down in the preamble, and the
development of self-governing institutions, and also for
safeguarding the civil and religious rights of all the inhabi-
tants of Palestine, irrespective of race and religion.

Article 3.
The Mandatory shall, so far as circumstances permit,
encourage local autonomy.

Article 4.
An appropriate Jewish agency shall be recognised as a
public body for the purpose of advising and co-operating
with the Administration of Palestine in such economic,
social and other matters as may affect the establishment of
the Jewish national home and the interests of the Jewish
population in Palestine and, subject always to the control

282 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

of the Administration, to assist and take part in the develop-
ment of the country.

The Zionist organisation, so long as its organisation and
constitution are in the opinion of the Mandatory appro-
priate, shall be recognised as such agency. It shall take
steps in consultation with His Britannic Majesty's Govern-
ment to secure the co-operation of all Jews who are willing
to assist in the establishment of the Jewish national home.

Article 5.

The Mandatory shall be responsible for seeing that no
Palestine territory shall be ceded or leased to, or in any way
placed under the control of the Government of any foreign
Power.

Article 6.

The Administration of Palestine, while ensuring that the
rights and position of other sections of the population are
not prejudiced, shall facilitate Jewish immigration under
suitable conditions and shall encourage in co-operation
with the Jewish agency referred to in Article 4 close settle-
ment by Jews on the land, including State lands and waste
lands not required for public purposes.

. Article 7.
The Administration of Palestine shall be responsible for
enacting a nationality law. There shall be included in
this law provisions framed so as to facilitate the acquisition
of Palestinian citizenship by Jews who take up their per-
manent residence in Palestine.

Article 8.

The privileges and immunities of foreigners, including the
benefits of consular jurisdiction and protection as formerly
enjoyed by Capitulation or usage in the Ottoman Empire,
shall not be applicable to Palestine.

Unless the Powers whose nationals enjoyed the afore-
mentioned privileges and immunities on August i, 1914,

APPENDIX 283

shall have previously renounced the right to their re-
establishment, or shall have agreed to their non-application
for a specified period, these privileges and immunities shall,
at the expiration of the mandate, be immediately re-
established in their entirety or with such modifications as
may have been agreed upon between the Powers concerned.

Article 9.

The Mandatory shall be responsible for seeing that the
judicial system established in Palestine shall assure to
foreigners, as well as to natives, a complete guarantee of
their rights.

Respect for the personal status of the various peoples
and communities and for their religious interests shall be
fully guaranteed. In particular, the control and adminis-
tration of Waqfs shall be exercised in accordance with
religious law and the dispositions of the founders.

Article 10.

Pending the making of special extradition agreements
relating to Palestine, the extradition treaties in force
between the Mandatory and other foreign Powers shall apply
to Palestine.

Article ii.

The Administration of Palestine shall take all necessary
measures to safeguard the interests of the community in
connection with the development of the country, and,
subject to any international obligations accepted by the
Mandatory, shall have full power to provide for public
ownership or control of any of the natural resources of the
country or of the public works, services and utilities estab-
lished or to be established therein. It shall introduce a
land system appropriate to the needs of the country, having
regard, among other things, to the desirability of promoting
the close settlement and intensive cultivation of the land.

The Administration may arrange with the Jewish agency
mentioned in Article 4 to construct or operate, upon fair

284 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

and equitable terms, any public works, services and utilities,
and to develop any of the natural resources of the country,
in so far as these matters are not directly undertaken by
the Administration. Any such arrangements shall provide
that no profits distributed by such agency, directly or
indirectly, shall exceed a reasonable rate of interest on the
capital, and any further profits shall be utilised by it for
the benefit of the country in a manner approved by the
Administration .

Article 12.

The Mandatory shall be entrusted with the control of
the foreign relations of Palestine, and the right to issue
exequaturs to consuls appointed by. foreign Powers. He
shall also be entitled to afford diplomatic and consular
protection to citizens of Palestine when outside its terri-
torial limits.

Article 13.

All responsibility in connection with the Holy Places and
religious buildings or sites in Palestine, including that of
preserving existing rights and of securing free access to
the Holy Places, religious buildings and sites and the free
exercise of worship, while ensuring the requirements of
public order and decorum, is assumed by the Mandatory,
who shall be responsible solely to the League of Nations in
all matters connected herewith, provided that nothing in
this Article shall prevent the Mandatory from entering into
such arrangements as he may deem reasonable with the
Administration for the purposes of carrying the provisions
of this Article into effect ; and provided also that nothing
in this Mandate shall be constructed as conferring upon
the Mandatory authority to interfere with the fabric or
the management of purely Moslem sacred shrines, the
immunities of which are guaranteed.

Article 14.
A special Commission shall be appointed by the Mandatory
to study, define and determine the rights and claims in

APPENDIX 285

connection with the Holy Places and the rights and claims
relating to the different religious communities in Palestine.
The method of nomination, the composition and the
functions of this Commission shall be submitted to the
Council of the League for its approval, and the Commission
shall not be appointed or enter upon its functions without
the approval of the Council.

Article 15.

The Mandatory shall see that complete freedom of
conscience and the free exercise of all forms of worship,
subject only to the maintenance of public order and morals,
are ensured to all. No discrimination of any kind shall be
made between the inhabitants of Palestine on the ground
of race, religion or language. No person shall be excluded
from Palestine on the sole ground of his religious belief.

The right of each community to maintain its own schools
for the education of its own members in its own language,
while conforming to such educational requirements of a
general nature as the Administration may impose, shall
not be denied or impaired.

Article 16.
The Mandatory shall be responsible for exercising such
supervision over religious or eleemosynary bodies of all
faiths in Palestine as may be required for the maintenance
of public order and good government. Subject to such
supervision no measures shall be taken in Palestine to
obstruct or interfere with the enterprise of such bodies or
to discriminate against any representative or member of
them on the ground of his religion or nationality.

Article 17.

The Administration of Palestine may organise on a

voluntary basis the forces necessary for the preservation

of peace and order, and also for the defence of the country,

subject, however, to the supervision of the Mandatory, but

286 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

shall not use them for purposes other than those above
specified save with the consent of the Mandatory. Except
for such purposes, no military, naval or air forces shall be
raised or maintained by the Administration of Palestine.

Nothing in this article shall preclude the Administration
of Palestine from contributing to the cost of the maintenance
of the forces of the Mandatory in Palestine.

The Mandatory shall be entitled at all times to use the
roads, railways and ports of Palestine for the movement
of armed forces and the carriage of fuel and supplies.

Article i8.

The Mandatory shall see that there is no discrimination
in Palestine against the nationals of any State Member of
the League of Nations (including companies incorporated
under its laws) as compared with those of the Mandatory
or of any foreign State in matters concerning taxation,
commerce or navigation, the exercise of industries or pro-
fessions, or in the treatment of merchant vessels or civil
aircraft. Similarly there shall be no discrimination in
Palestine against goods originating in or destined for any
of the said States, and there shall be freedom of transit
under equitable conditions across the mandated area.

Subject as aforesaid and to the other provisions of this
mandate, the Administration of Palestine may on the
advice of the Mandatory impose such taxes and customs
duties as it may consider necessary, and take such steps as
it may think best to promote the development of the
natural resources of the country and to safeguard the
interests of the population. It may also, on the advice of
the Mandatory, conclude a special customs agreement with
any State, the territory of which in 1914 was wholly
included in Asiatic Turkey or Arabia,

Article 19.
The Mandatory shall adhere on behalf of the Adminis-
tration to any general international conventions already
existing, or which may be concluded hereafter with the

APPENDIX 287

approval of the Leagii-e of Nations, respecting the slave
traffic, the traffic in arms and ammunition, or the traffic
in drugs, or relating to commercial equality, freedom of
transit and naviga'tion, aerial navigation and postal,
telegraphic and wireless communication or literary, artistic
or industrial property.

Article 20.

The Mandatory shall co-operate on behalf of the Adminis-
tration of Palestine, so far as religious, social and other
conditions may permit, in the execution of any common
policy adopted by the League of Nations for preventing
and combating disease, including diseases of plants and
animals.

Article 21.

The Mandatory shall secure the enactment within twelve
months from this date, and shall ensure the execution of
a law of Antiquities based on the following rules. This
law shall ensure equality of treatment in the matter of
excavations and archaeological research to the nationals
of all States, Members of the League of Nations.

" Antiquity " means any construction or any product of
human activity earlier than the year 1700 a.d.

The law for the protection of antiquities shall proceed
by encouragement rather than by threat.

Any person who, having discovered an antiquity without
being furnished with the authorisation referred to in
paragraph 5, reports the same to an official of the competent
Department, shall be rewarded according to the value of
the discovery.

No antiquity may be disposed of except to the competent
Department, unless this Department renounces the acquisi-
tion of any such antiquity.

288 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

Any person who maliciously or negligently destroys or
damages an antiquity shall be liable to a penalty to be
fixed.

No clearing of ground or digging with the object of
finding antiquities shall be permitted, under penalty of
fine, except to persons authorised by the competent Depart-
ment.

Equitable terms shall be fixed for expropriation, temporary
or permanent, of lands which might be of historical or
archaeological interest.

Authorisation to excavate shall only be granted to
persons who show sufficient guarantees of archaeological
experience. The Administration of Palestine shall not, in
granting these authorisations, act in such a way as to
exclude scholars of any nation without good grounds.

The proceeds of excavations may be divided between the
excavator and the competent Department in a proportion
fixed by that Department. If division seems impossible
for scientific reasons, the excavator shall receive a fair
indemnity in lieu of a part of the find.

Article 22.

English, Arabic and Hebrew shall be the official languages
of Palestine. Any statement or inscription in Arabic on
stamps or money in Palestine shall be repeated in Hebrew
and any statement or inscription in Hebrew shall be repeated
in Arabic.

Article 23.

The Administration of Palestine shall recognise the
Holy days of the respective communities in Palestine as
legal days of rest for the members of such communities.

APPENDIX 289

Article 24.
The Mandatory shall make to the Council of the League
of Nations an annual report to the satisfaction of the
Council as to the measures taken during the year to carry
out the provisions of the mandate. Copies of all laws and
regulations promulgated or issued during the year shall be
communicated with the report.

Article 25.
In the territories lying between the Jordan and the
eastern boundary of Palestine as ultimately determined,
the Mandatory shall be entitled, with the consent of the
Council of the League of Nations, to postpone or withhold
application of such provisions of this mandate as he may
consider inapplicable to the existing local conditions, and
to make such provision for the administration of the terri-
tories as he may consider suitable to those conditions,
provided no action shall be taken which is inconsistent with
the provisions of Article 15, 16, and 18.

Article 26.

The Mandatory agrees that if any dispute whatever
should arise between the Mandatory and another Member
of the League of Nations relating to the interpretation or
the application of the provisions of the mandate, such
dispute, if it cannot be settled by negotiation, shall be
submitted to the Permanent Court of International Justice
provided for by Article 14 of the Covenant of the League
of Nations.

Article 27.

The consent of the Council of the League of Nations is
required for any modification of the terms of this mandate.

Article 28.
In the event of the termination of the mandate hereby
conferred upon the Mandatory, the Council of the League
of Nations shall make such arrangements as may be deemed
L,P. TP

290

THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

necessary for safeguarding in perpetuity, under guarantee
of the League, the rights secured by Articles 13 and 14, and
shall use its influence for securing, under the guarantee of
the League, that the Government of Palestine will fully
honour the financial obligations legitimately incurred by
the Administration of Palestine during the period of the
mandate, including the rights of public servants to pensions
or gratuities.

The present instrument shall be deposited in original
in the archives of the League of Nations and certified copies
shall be forwarded by the Secretary General of the League
of Nations to all Members of the League.

Done at London the twenty-fourth day of July, One
thousand nine hundred and twenty- two.

INDEX

'Abbasids, 14, 69.

'Abdallah, Pasha of Acre, 23,

73, 106-107.
'Abd al-Melek, 68-69/ 79, 9^,

92.
'Abdu'l Hamid II., 24, 35.
Abyssinians, 33, 43, 45, 94, 99.
Acre, 5, 18-20, 22, 23, 28, 42,

50, 60, 73, 105-107, 196, 204.
Administration, System of,

133-137-
Administrative divisions, 28,

134-135-
Agriculture and Forestry, 186-

194-
Ain Karem, 88-89.
Ain Shems, 61, 76-77.
Allenby, Lord, 24, 27, 82.
'American Colony,' the, 48.
Animals, Society for the Pre-
vention of Cru-elty to, 279.
Antiquities, Department of,

74-75. 83, 104, 131.
Aqsa, Mosque of al-, see Haram

al-Sherif.
Arabs, 13-15, 32, 34-35, 203.
Aramaic, 10, 35, 57.
Archaeology and Art, 60-77.
Architecture —

Christian, 63-67.

Greek and Roman, '62-63,
103.

Jewish, 62, 63, 96-97.

Moslem, 67-74, 88.
Area, i.

Armenians, 33, 43-44, 94, 96,

97. 99-
Arrub, 29, 99, 196.
Ascalon, 14, 18, 61, 63, 75, 77,

81, 83, 106.
Ashdod, see Esdud.
Assizes of Jerusalem, the, 16.
Athlit, 104, 198.

Baha'is, 33, 58-59, 105, 107.
Baldwin I., 16, 80, 87, 97, 104.
Baldwin II., 16, 79, loi.
Balfour Declaration, the, 25-

27. 52.
Banks, 159-160.
Beduin, 34-35. i3o,i39-i4o.i75-
Beersheba, 28, 84, 276.
Beisan (Bethshan), 7, 60, 75,

103.
Beit Jibrin, 62, 75, 86.
Belus, River, 107.
Bethlehem, 47, 64, 98-99, 240.
Bibars, 21, 71, 83, 87, 105, 107.
Birds, 243-256.
Blood Feud Commissions, 139-

140.
Blyth, Bishop, 46-48.
Books of Reference, 123-125.
Bosnians, 33, 36, 105.
Boy Scouts and Girl Guides,

29, 278.
Byzantine Empire, the, 13, 15,

66, 79, 87.

Caenaculum, the, 64, 96.

291

ig2

THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

Caesarea, 5, 13, 14, 17, 40, 63,

104-105, 106, 198.
Cana, 108.
Canaanites, 6, 61.
Capernaum, 63, 75, 109.
Capitulations, the, 139, 282.
Captivity, the Babylonia,n, 9,

89, 99.
Carmel, Mt., 2, 5, 60, 104, 231,

241.
Carmelites, 43, 104.
Castles, Crusaders', 20-21, 66,

104, 107.
Circassians, 33, 35-36, 203.
Climate, 208-209.
Coins, 77-80.
Colonies, Jewish, 55-56.
Commerce and Industry, 169-

170, 276.
Companies, Limited Liability,

142-143.
Constantine the Great, 63-64,

95. 98.

Consuls, Foreign, 277.
Co-operative Societies, 142-143.
Copts, 33, 45, 94, 99.
Costume, 85, 98.
Crusades, 15-21, 63, 82, 83, 85,

87, 91, 92, 93, 101-103, 105,

108.
Currency, 158-159.
Customs Department and

Dues, 160-168.
Cyprus, 16, 20-21, 44, 47, 59,

61, 76, 96, 266.

David, King, 7-8, 84-85, 89,

96, 98.

Dead Sea, the, 4-5, 125, 198,
230, 234-238, 240-241.

Decapolis, the, 11.

Departments, Government, 1 36.

Dome of the Rock, see Harain
al-Sherif.

Dominicans, Biblical School of
the, 43, 67, 75, 124, 131.

Druses, 33, 57-58, 108, 203.

Education, 173-180,

Emmaus, 88.

Enab, 88.

England, Church of, in Pales-
tine, 33, 45-48, 95, 97-98, 179-

Esdraelon (Jezreel), Plain of,
22, 60, 103.

Esdud (Ashdod), 60, 81, 84.

Eudocia, Empress, 65, 82, 95.

Executive Council, 136.

Exhibitions, 132.

Fatimites, 15, 69, 79, 87.

Festivals, 130, 269-273.

Fishes, /%6o-26i.

Flora, 266.

Forestry, see Agriculture.

Franciscans, 42-43, 89, 96, 108,

131-

Frederick I. (Barbarossa) , Em-
peror, 17.

Frederick II., Emperor, 18.

Frontiers, i, 162-163.

Galilee, 49, 63, 195, 239.
Galilee, Sea of, see Tiberias,

Lake of.
Gam.e Preservation, 265-266.
Gath, see Tel al-Safi.
Gaza, 5, 14, 24, 28, 33, 47, 60,

63, 74, 81-83, 196, 233, 276.
Gendarmerie, 203.
Geography, 1-5.
Geology, 229-238.
Georgians, 94, 98.
Gethsemane, 65, 75, 97.
Gezer, see Tel al- jezer.
Godfrey de Bouillon, 16.

Haifa, 5, 28, 33, 47, 49, 104,

122, 160, 196, 202.
Haram al-Sherif, 29, 68-69, 72,

91-93. 130, 131-
Harbours, 5, 196-198.
Hattin, Battle of, 17, 69, 108.
Health, Public, 204-208.
Hebrew, revival of, 53-54.

INDEX

293

Hebron, 28, 33, 37, 39, 84-85.
Hejaz Railway, the, 116, 199,

228.
Heraclius, Emperor, 13, 14.
Herod the Great, 11, 62-63, 75.

83, 89, 100, I02, 125.
Herzl, Theodor, 25.
Hezekiah, King, 9, 89.
Holidays, Public, 272-273.
Holy Grail, the, 105.
Holy Sepulchre, Church of the,
64, 66, 90, 93-95. 130.

Order of the, 42.
Hospices, 122.
Hospitals, 204-205.
Hotels, no, 122.
Huleh, Lake, 4, 5, 109, 198,

233-

Ibrahim, Pasha, 23, 39, 105,

125.
Idumaeans, 11-12, 87.
Immigration, Jewish, 52-53,

171-172.
Industries, see Commerce.
Insects, 261-265.
Islam in Palestine, 36-39, 140-

141, 268-269.
Israel and Judah, Kingdoms

of, 7-9, lOI.
Israelites, early history of, 6-7,

60.

Jabneh, see Yebna.
Jacobites, 33, 43, 44-45, 94.

99.
Jaffa, 5, 17, 24, 28, 31, 33,

45, 47, 49. 86-87, 122, 196,

233-
Jericho, 17, 99-100, 122.
Jerome, S., 82, 99.
Jerusalem, 8, 12, 13, 14, 16,

17, 24. 27-30, 33, 37, 47, 49,

50, 52-53, 63, 68-74, 89-98,

122.
Jerusalem, Latin Kingdom of,

15, 19-20, 41, 105.

Jews, 6-12, 25-27, 32, 49-56,
77-78, 84, 95, 105, 108-109,
141-142, 203, 270-273, 278.

Jezzar Pasha, 22, 105-107.

Jordan River and Valley, 4-5,
34, 100, 193, 232-238, 266.

Joshua, 83, 84, 99, loi.

Juhan the Apostate, 12.

Justice, Administration of,
137-143. 150-152.

Justinian, 65, 82, 92, 98, loi.

Kalendar —

Jewish, 270-272.

Moslem, 267-268.

Orthodox, 269.
Khwarizmians, 18, 82.
Kishon, River, 5, 107.

Lachish, see Tel al-Hesi.

Lakes, 4-5, 198.

Land Tenure and Courts, 140,

152-155, 181-185.
Languages, Official, 31.
Latin Church in Palestine, 33,

40, 41-43, 94 . 97. 99-
Latrun, 88.
Law and Law Courts, see

Justice, Administration of.
Legislation, 143.
Legislative Council, 136-137.
Live-stock, 194-195.
Louis IX., S., 18.
Ludd (Lydda), 71,- 87-88.

Maccabees, lo-ii, 77, 87, 102.
Madaba mosaic, 66, 90.
Magharbeh, 33, 36.
Mamelukes, 21, 71-73.
Mammalia, 242-243.
Mandate, British, Palestine

under, 24-31 ; text of, 280

sqq.
Mar Saba, 3, 99, 231.
Medical Department, 204-208.
Megiddo, 60-61, 'j^, 103.
Meiron, 109.

294

THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE

Melchites, 33, 43, 108.
Melisende, Queen, 97.
Metawileh, 22, 33, 36, 58.
Meteorological data, 208-210.
Mineral resources, 238-241.
Mineral springs, see Springs.
Mishna, the, 49, 109.
Mohammed 'Ali, 23.
Montfort, Castle of, 107.
Moslem Sharia Council and

Courts, 37-38, 140-141.
Motor-car services, 11 8- 119,

121.
Mountains, 3.
Municipalities, 28, 140, 224-

226.
Museums, 75-77, 83.

Nablus (Shechem), 8, 17, 28,
33, 47, .56-57. 101-102, 231.

Napoleon I., 22, 81, 87, 105-
106.

Napoleon III., 23, 97.

Nazareth, 28, 47, 107-108, 122.

Nebi Musa, Feast of, 130, 269,
272.

Newspapers, 276.

Olives, cultivation of, 193-194.

Olives, Mt. of, 64, 96, 97, 276.

'Omar al-Daher, 22, 105, 108,
109.

'Omar, KhaUf, 40, 66, 82, 89,
. 91.

Omayyads, 14-15, 68-69, 88.

Oranges, 55, 87, 171.

Order of S. John of Jerusalem,
20-21, 105-106.

, English, 48, 205.

Orthodox Patriarchate of Jeru-
salem, 33, 39-41. 94. 97. 99-

Palestine Exploration Fund,

75, 83, 84, 86, 90.
Palestine, meaning of term, 5.
Parliamentary Papers, 226-227.
Passport Regulations, 111-113.

Petroleum, 240.
PhiHstines, 6, 75, 81-83, 86.
Phoenicians, 6, 62, 86.
Police, 28, 202-204.
Population, 2, 32-33.
Postage Stamps, 217-222.
Postal Services, 210-217.
Prisons, 203-204.
Pro-Jerusalem Society, the, 29,

92, 93. 95. 131-132.
Public Works, 195-196,

Qala'un, Sultan, 20, 21.
Qaraites, 53.
Qarantal, Jebel, 100.
Quarantine, 207-208.

Rafa, 81, 84.

Railways, 115-118, 198-202,

228.
Rainfall, 209.
Ramleh, 33, 47, 50, 72, 88, 130,

233. 276.
Reptilia, 256-259.
Revenue and Expenditure,

157-158.
Richard Coeur-de-Lion, 17, 87,

107.
' River of Egypt,' the, 5, 80.
Rivers, 5.

Roads, 119-122, 195.
Romans, 11-12, 87.

Safed, 22, 28, 33, 50-51, 109,

233-
Saladin, 17, 41, 69-70, 95,
Samaria (Sebastieh), 8, 63, 75,

102-103.
Samaritans, 10, 14, 32, 56-57,

101-102, 108.
Samuel, Sir Herbert, 30, 278,

279.
Sarafend, 50, 58.
Schools, see Education.
Seljuqs, 15, 87.
Shipping, 1 1 3- 1 15, 225.
Shrines, Moslem, 37.

INDEX

295

Simon bar Cochba, 12, 49, 78.
Smith, Sir Sidney, 22, 106.
Solomon, King, 8, 82, 89, 91.
Solomon, Pools of, 99, 196.
Springs, Mineral, 109, 125-126.
Stone, Building, 238-239.
Suleyman the Magnificent, 21,

39. 91, 95-
Sunrise and Sunset, 129.
Syrians. 32, 34-35.

Ta'anach, 60, 103.

Tabor, Mt., 108.

Tantura, 198.

Taxation, 144-157.

Tel al-'Amarna tablets, 6, 60,

88.
Tel al-Hesi (Lachish), 61, 86.
Tel al- Jezer (Gezer), 61, 76, 88.
Telal-Safi (Gath), 76, 81, 83-84.
Tel Aviv, 87, 122.
Telegraphs and Telephones,

222-223.
Templar Community, German,

48-49, 87.
Templar, Knights, 20, 104, 109.
Temple, the Jewish, 8, 10, 12,

62, 87, 89.
Terra Santa, Custodia of, 42-43.
Tiberias, Lake of, i, 4, 61, 198,

235-
, Town, 22, 28, 49, 50, 75,

108-109, 122, 125-126, 235.
Tithes, see Taxation.

Titus, 12, 78, 89.

Tobacco, 150, 165.

Trade Marks and Patents, 143.

Trans- jordania, i, 50, 34, 36,

41, 62-63, 109. ^62, 222, 227-

228, 239.
Transliteration, Arabic and

Hebrew, 273-275.
Transport, 122.
Turks, 21-25, 73-

Uniate Churches, 33, 43.
Usdum, Jebel, 230, 240-241.

Venice, 18, 52.
Vespasian, 78, loi, 108.
Via Dolorosa, the, 29, 70.
Virgin, Tomb of the, 90, 97.

Wadi al-Sant, 13, 83.
Wailing Wall, the, 90, 95.
Waqfs, 37-39, 183.
War Cemeteries, 276-277.
Water-supply of Jerusalem, 29,

89, 99, 196.
Weights and Measures, 126-

129.

Yebna (Jabneh), 49, 71-72, 84.
Yemenite Jews, 52-53.
Yiddish, 52, 53.

Zedekiah, King, 9, 89.
Zionism, 25-27, 53, 56, 87, 180.

.VKINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY ROBERT MACLEHOSE AND CO. LTD.
THE UNIVERSITY I'RESS, GLASGOW

icooKS:

EGYPT &• PALESTINE

An experience of over fifty years in Egypt and Palestine
has placed Thos. Cook & Son in an unrivalled position
with regard to travel in these countries.

On the Nile their fleet of First-Class Passenger
Steamers make frequent voyages between Cairo, Assuan
and the second Cataract, and it may be asserted with
some confidence that on no other river of the world can a
voyage be made with greater or more studied luxury.

In Palestine, in spite of the new regime, travel is still
a very different thing from travel in Europe, and it is
only by such an organization as theirs that the country
can be visited under the best conditions.

A booklet of arrangements for travel in both Egypt
and Palestine may be obtained from

THOS. COOK & SON

Chief Office : LUDGATE CIRCUS, LONDON, E.C.

CAIRO, - - - Nr. Shepheard's Hotel

ALEXANDRIA, - - 2 Rue Fouad Premier

PORT SAID, - - Chareh Sultan Hussein

LUXOR, - - - Nr. Winter Palace Hotel

ASSUAN, - - - Gd. Assuan Hotel

BEYROUT, - - - Nr. Hotel d'Orient

JERUSALEM, - - David Street

150 BRANCHES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD

The
Anglo-Palestine Company

Limited

Head Office :
BROOK HOUSE, WALBROOK,
LONDON

Head Office for the Orient :
JAFFA

Branches:

JERUSALEM, HAIFA, BEYROUT

TIBERIAS, SAFED

AGENCY IN HEBRON

All description of Banking Business transacted
on the most favourable terms

Imperial Ottoman Bank

ESTABLISHED 1863

Authorized Capital, - - L.Stg. 10,000,000
Paid up Capital, - - L.Stg. 5,000,000

Reserve, - - - - L.Stg. 1,250,000

Branches in Palestine :
JERUSALEM, JAFFA, HAIFA, NABLUS.

Sub-Branches:
BETHLEHEM AND RAMALLAH.

The Imperial Ottoman Bank transacts every descrip-
tion of British and Foreign Banking Business. With
its seventy branch offices all over the East and its
correspondents in every important town in the world,
it offers special facihties to travellers for the cashing of
Circular Notes, Letters of Credit, etc. It has a specially
organized Merchandise Department.

London Office, - 26 and 27 THROGMORTON ST., E.G. 2
Paris Office, - 7 RUE MEYERBEER
Head Office, - CONSTANTINOPLE

NATIONAL BANK
OF EGYPT

HEAD OFFICE: CAIRO

Governor :
B. HORNSBY, C.B.E.

Fully paid Capital,
Reserve Fund, -

^3,000,000
^2,200,000

London Agency :

6 AND 7 King William Street, E.C.4

Branches in all the Principal Towns in
EGYPT and the SUDAN

ALLENBY HOTEL

JERUSALEM

(Ex "Fast")

Situated in a very select part near the Jaffa Gate
and the Post-Office.

ENTIRELY RENOVATED &> FITTED WITH
. . THE LATEST SANITARY APPLIANCES . .

STRICTLY FIRST CLASS HOTEL.

150 Beds. Bathrooms. Electric Light.

FRENCH CUISINE.

Music at Tea and Dinner daily. Small Dances
every Saturday evening.

EVERY FIRST CLASS COMFORT.

DRAGOMAN MEETS ALL TRAINS.

MODERATE TERMS.

Special Guides, who are at the disposal of visitors, are
attached to the Hotel.

THE GRAND HOTELS CO. OF EGYPT

CAIRO . .

THE

CONTINENTAL-SAVOY

The most up-to-date and best situated
Hotel in town. Entirely Renewed.
Overlooking Ezbekieh Gardens.
Opera Square. Famous Terraces.
400 Rooms. 200 Bathrooms.

Cairo s Fashionable Griil-Room Restaurant,

Daily Concerts. Weekly Dances.

OPEN ALL THE YEAR ROUND.

MENA HOUSE HOTEL

At the foot of the Pyramids.
The Ideal Hotel out of town.

HEALTH RESORT
NEAR CAIRO.

HELOUAN

SULPHUR BATHS AND THERMAL ESTABLISHMENT.

GRAND HOTEL, HELOUAN

STRICTLY FIRST CLASS.
6

WELL RECOMMENDED

CENTRAL HOTEL
S. JOHN HOTEL

JERUSALEM

P.O. Box 177

Telegraphic Address "AMDURSKY," Jerusalem.
Telephone No. 154.

Near Jaffa Gate oppo- Situated in the modern

site David's Tower. section of the Old

Verandas looking over City. Windows over-

the most Historical looking the Church of

Sites. the Holy Sepulchre.

FIRST CLASS HOTEL

European Kitchen Electric Light

Bath Rooms Very Comfortable

Hotel Agents and Porters meet all trains

TIBERIAS

ON THE SEA OF GALILEE

PALESTINE

HOTEL TIBERIAS

Proprietrix :

MRS. GROSSMAN

NICELY SITUATED EUROPEAN HOUSE

CLEAN AND AIRY BEDROOMS

GOOD FOOD AND GOOD DRINKS

ATTENTIVE SERVICE

Beautiful view on the Lake and
surrounding hills

KHEDIVIAL MAIL LINE

Managing Agents :
CURWEN & CO., ALEXANDRIA

CYPRUS MAIL LINE (subsidised by the British Government) ,
Royal Mail steamers leave Alexandria on the ist, nth and
2ist of each month at 4 p.m., and Port Said on the 3rd, 13th
and 23rd at 9 a.m., for Famagusta, Larnaca, and Limassol,
returning to Alexandria via Port Said.

SUDAN MAIL LINE. Mail steamers leave Suez on the ist and
nth of each month at 5 p.m. for Tor, Yambo, Jeddah, Port
Sudan and Suakin, returning to Suez via the same ports.

Mail steamers leave Suez on the 21st of each month at 5 p.m.
for Tor, Wedj, Jeddah, Port Sudan and Suakin, returning to
Suez via the same ports and calling at Yambo after Jeddah.

GREECE-TURKEY LINE. Steamers leave Alexandria every
alternate Wednesday for Piraeus, Smyrna, Mitylene and
Constantinople, returning to Alexandria via the same ports.
This service will shortly be made weekly from Alexandria.

SYRIAN-PALESTINE LINE. Steamers leave Alexandria
about every fifteen days at 3 p.m., and from Port Said one day
later at 6 p.m., for Jaffa, Caifa, Beyrout, Tripoli, Lattakia and
Mersina, returning via Alexandretta and the above ports.

SYRIAN-CONSTANTINOPLE LINE. Passenger steamers
leave Alexandria and Port Said twice monthly, and cargo
steamers (with limited First-Class accommodation) fortnightly,
for Jaffa, Caifa, Beyrout, TripoU, Lattakia, Alexandretta,
Mersina, Adalia, Rhodes, Chios, Smyrna, Mitylene, Dardanelles
and Constantinople, returning via the same ports.

ADEN MAIL LINE. Steamers leave Suez monthly for Wedj,

Yambo, Jeddah, Port Sudan, Suakin, Massowah, Hodeidah

and Aden, returning via the same ports.

(Line is temporarily suspended. Will be resumed in

September 1922.)

All passenger steamers carry Doctors, and are fitted with
electric light and fans.

For further particulars regarding dates of sailing, passenger
fares and rates of freight, apply to the Company's Agencies, at
Alexandria, Port Said, Suez and all ports of call. For passenger
fares and dates of sailings only apply to Cox's Shipping Agency,
Cairo ; Thos. Cook & Son (Egypt) Ltd., and other Tourist
Agencies.

Agents in Palestine :
JAFFA - - Mr. A. Cassar. Cargo and Passengers.

CAIFA - - SoLiMAN Bey Nassif. do.

JERUSALEM - The Palestine Passengers only.

Express Co. Ltd,

The Palestine Express
Company Limited

JERUSALEM, JAFFA, HAIFA, ALEXANDRIA,
BEYROUT

Foreign Agencies : Vienna, London, New York
Telegraphic Address for all Branches : PECOLD
Codes : A. B.C. 5TH and 6th Editions — Bentley's Code
Bankers : The Anglo -Palestine Company Limited

TOURING OFFICE

STEAMSHIP AGENCY

RAILWAY TICKETS

AND

Independent and conducted Tours
throughout Palestine, Syria and
Egypt. Special arrangements for
parties interested in the Jewish
historical places and colonies.

Tickets booked for all Steamship
Companies. Official appointed
Agents of the White Star Line and
the International Mercantile
Marine Company.

Agents of the Palestine Railways.
Tickets booked for the Egyptian
State Railways, and the principal
trains in Europe and America.

Goods of all kinds forwarded and
shipped, stored and insured. Ad-
vances against goods C.O.D. col-
lected. Luggage stored and insured.

effected against all risks by land, sea
and air. Luggage Insurance for
accompanied baggage by ready
policies. General Agents to :

The Guardian Eastern Insurance Co., London.

The Mondial Marine Insurance Co.

The European Goods and Luggage Insurance Co.

Publishers of Guide Books.

NEW YORK AGENCY: THE PALESTINE PILGRIMAGE,

52 E. loTH Street.

Cables : Oleyregel, New York — Bentley's Code.

FORWARDING
SHIPPING :

INSURANCE

S. BARAKAT TOURS

Intending visitors to the Holy Land could not consult
their own interests better than by arranging for their
trips with

SELIM BARAKAT,

JAFFA, PALESTINE.

Independent Tourist Contractor of

EASTERN TOURS

FOR

SYRIA, PALESTINE AND EGYPT.

S. Barakat, who has had years of training and experi-
ence with personally conducted parties, places at the
disposal of his patrons the knowledge and experience
of half a life time on arranging trips through the Holy
Land, Syria and Egypt for any number of parties
desired.

CLIFF HOTEL, JAFFA

On the sea, yet located in most commanding position,
with magnificent view from all rooms. Excellent
cuisine, safe and comfortable bathing. Admirably
suited for families and week-end parties.

SELIM BARAKAT, Proprietor.

S. CATONI & SONS

STEAMSHIP AGENTS AND MERCHANTS

Telegrams: "OCTAVE," Haifa

Agents at Haifa and Acre for :
THE PRINCE LINE, LTD.
ROYAL NETHERLANDS STEAMSHIP CO.
ARMEMENT ADOLF DEPPE
SWENSKA ORIENT LINE
THE UNITED AMERICAN LINES, INC.

Codes used :
A. B. C. 5TH Edition. SCOTT'S CODE, ioth Edition

OCTAVE CATONI

STEAMSHIP AGENT & INSURANCE BROKER

Telegrams: "MESSAGERIE," Haifa

Agent for :
CiE. DES MESSAGERIES MARITIMES
COMITE CENTRAL des ARMATEURS de FRANC:
AMERICA LEVANT LINE

Commissaire cl'Avaries clu
COMITE DES ASSUREURS MARITIMES de PARIS

Codes used :
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NEAR EAST TRAVEL BUREAU

Do you wish to visit the

HOLY LAND ^ SYRIA

EGYPT ^ THE NILE

& GREECE

with Comfort, Economy, and Success ?

Before deciding on your tour it will be
worth your while to communicate with

D. N. TADROS,

Tourist and Passenger Agent

(Established 1892)

Telesrams: p q g^^ j27,

1 adros 1 ours,

Jerusalem. JERUSALEM

Excursions arranged at fixed rates in above Countries.
Passages secured by all Lines. Railway tickets issued.
Forwarding and Insurance of baggage. Foreign money
exchanged. Hotel accommodation reserved. Private
automobiles supplied.

Specially Conducted parties organized from England & America

Offices and Agencies :

Jaffa, Jerusalem, Haifa, Beyrout, Damascus, Cairo, Port Said,

Alexandria, Athens, Constantinople, Naples, Marseilles, Paris,

London and New York.

L.P. 13 U

MESSAGERIES MARITIMES

:: French Mail Line ::
Luxe Steamers from 19,000 tons

EGYPT LINE

Marseilles, Alexandria, Port-Said, Jaffa, Haifa,
Beyrout, and vice versa.

NORTH MEDITERRANEAN LINE

Marseilles Naples Piraeus Smyrna

Constantinople Rhodes or Vathy Beyrout

Haifa Jaffa and vice versa.

FAR EASTERN LINE

India China Japan Ceylon Australia
and East coast of Africa.

For Passages and Freight apply :

D. N. TADROS,

Tourist and Passenger Agent

(Established 1892)

Sole Official Representative

JAFFA: JERUSALEM:

Near Custom House Outside Jaflfa Gate

or from the other offices and agencies of the Company,

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UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY

DS Luke, (Sir) Harry Charles

107 Joseph

.3 The handbook of Palestine

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